by Amy McKinley
“Is something bothering you?” I gave her the opener I knew she was waiting for.
The distance between us closed as she trod across the wood floor with her sensible shoes. Perching on the edge of the couch cushion diagonally from me, she glared. “You know there is, Kara. What is that no-good husband of yours doing out of town? It’s been two weeks, and he’s yet to return. What does that say to little Lily, hmm?”
“He’s working. We’ve been over this already. I don’t understand why you’re so upset this time. Samir travels a lot.”
“First, you try to send Lily away—”
“To her father!” I threw my hands up in the air.
“You know I don’t agree with Samir’s business dealings.” Andrea’s chin angled high. “Consorting with that man in the States.”
“He’s in business with David Meyer’s ancestry company, nothing more.” I glared at her to get her to stop. What I said wasn’t entirely true, but I would defend Samir with my dying breath.
“And earlier, that horrible man almost abducted Lily.”
I narrowed my gaze. Lily wasn’t taken away. Ahmed got word and had stopped Andrea and Lily as they walked along the hedge. “What do you know about that man?” I hadn’t told her anything yet for fear she would argue and refuse to take Lily to where Max—no, Keegan—was waiting. Worse, I wasn’t positive she wouldn’t run to Ahmed. It didn’t matter, anyway. He’d found out, but I could still plead that it was due to Ahmed taking business meetings too close to my daughter.
Andrea shrugged. “Nothing. Mr. Hernandez told me there was someone spotted on the edge of the lawn and that he’d learned he was after Lily.”
She meant well. I knew that. Lily was her world too. I rubbed the bridge of my nose before meeting her gaze again. I had to tell her. Maybe then we would have a chance in hell of getting Lily out of there. “The man was there because I’d asked him to. Ahmed—”
“Why do you call him that? He’s your father, Kara.” Sadness spread over her features, and she reached out and squeezed my leg.
It was the wrong direction for our conversation to go, but I couldn’t brush off her concern. “I’m sorry, Andrea. It’s easier for me to call him that because of the business.”
She nodded, but the worried frown didn’t leave her mouth.
“Ahmed has some business dealings that are dangerous right now.”
“It won’t always be this way.” Removing her hand, Andrea settled on the couch, so her back rested against the cushions. “Lily is safest within these walls.”
“I don’t think she is.” I knew she wasn’t. “You know I tried to fly her out to Samir, and Ahmed forbade it. She’s my daughter.” My voice shook at the reminder of the argument I’d had with him that day.
“And his granddaughter.”
Why? Why does she insist on seeing the good in him? I didn’t think any existed anymore, not since Mama died. “I want her to go to Samir for a while. Not forever, but until whatever Ahmed’s got going on is wrapped up.”
Andrea nodded but didn’t look reassured. “What are you planning?”
She was crucial to how I would get Lily out safely. I had to include her, despite the risk she would face if Ahmed caught her. “It’s dangerous. If Ahmed learns you’re involved, I’m afraid of what he will do.”
She sat straight with determination pulling at her features. “For Lily? I would do anything.”
That’s what I was counting on.
12
Keegan
Night descended loudly on the streets below with the sounds of raised voices, tires squealing, and the occasional pop of automatic-weapons fire. Caracas was vastly different than it had been in my youth. Despite how long ago that was, the memories were still fresh.
Jack and Hawk had returned from scouting earlier and were again concealing guns and knives to head out into the night.
“Check in on the hour.” With Hugo on the loose and a potential confrontation brewing with members of the Dark Wings, we’d decided that I would continue to lie low. I was doing so for their protection and to feed into the lie Kara had told Ahmed about killing me. At the very least, it bought us a day or two.
“We won’t be long.” Jack slapped my shoulder as he and Hawk walked past me then out the door.
They were doing surveillance on Ahmed’s home in hopes of spotting Hugo. We had to recover the nanoweapons. The loss of the director of National Intelligence Services weighed on us all. Who the next target would be was crucial to identify, as was the drone retrieval. The mission from Rich no longer included recovery of Henry Adams, aka Uncle Hugo.
Everything was moving too slowly and making me jittery, especially since I had yet to discover where Hugo was holed up. I didn’t trust that he would believe Kara, and my gut warned that he was double-crossing Ahmed in some way. There would have been no other reason for him to flee when Kara approached.
Despite my best defenses, remaining behind opened the door for my mind to dredge up past horrors, particularly my introduction to the Dark Wings. I rubbed my eyes, trying to stave off the memory, but it came barreling through my head as violently as they had.
I was eleven. The hot, dry wind of the Sahara slapped my face, robbed my eyes of moisture, and leeched my mouth of saliva. Six long months had passed in my uncle’s care, if it could be called that.
Abandonment had a distinctly bitter taste. Standing next to him, overlooking an open expanse where men sparred on ground packed from the tread of feet and impact of bodies, I had a sixth sense I would experience that particular condition yet again.
It’d been six months since my parents passed away from the car accident.
In my uncle’s care, I had ceased to exist until the day before.
Our plane had touched down hours ago, and he had only said a handful of words to me. Among them were “duty,” “birthright,” and “what is owed.” As I stood in front of a giant of a man dressed in black robes and with a turban on his head, I began to understand.
With my hands fisted by my side, I waited for what disaster would befall me next. I didn’t have long to wait.
“This is the boy?” The large man with coal for eyes looked me over and seemed to take my measure.
A mixture of anger and fear collided as I held his gaze without flinching. I knew their language fluently, but he spoke in English for my benefit. I’d let him assume that’s all I understood. Somehow, I knew I had to keep as much of myself as possible secreted away.
My uncle handed my small duffel to an angry-looking man who came forward then turned to me. I didn’t want to break eye contact with the giant, but my uncle’s fingers bit into my shoulder, so I turned to him.
“This is your birthright. Do as you’re told and become a weapon.”
No. Something is very wrong here. “You’re leaving me here?”
There was no emotion on his face, and I worked hard to wipe the despair that bubbled up from my features as well. “I’ll return for you after your sixteenth birthday, when you’re useful.”
What does that even mean?
I snapped out of the memory, fighting the urge to purge the water I’d consumed from my stomach. I’d learned exactly what that meant moments after Hugo had left and each day from then on. The bruises I’d worn as tattoos beneath my skin had been a reminder, the scars etched in my back and various other places more permanent. Hugo had delivered me into hell, but I’d crawled out before he was able to collect me.
Jack and Hawk might have been out there gathering intel, but after I met with Kara, I would hunt down Hugo and teach him exactly what I had become, what his investment all those years ago had made me.
13
Kara
With Lily safely tucked into bed for the night, I was free to check on Ahmed. Not only did I owe Keegan, but I trusted him with Lily, and I was desperate to get her away from what was going on. If Andrea wanted to go, too, I would arrange it. No one was safe under the same roof as Ahmed. I’d learned that when I was
young.
On the other side of the house, in the west wing, my shoes made no sound on the thick carpet. No one roamed there. A few more steps, and his office was in sight, the door shut tightly. A sliver of light spilled from beneath the threshold and into the dimly lit corridor.
I rubbed my damp palms along the sides of my jeans. Pressing against the wall, I held still and listened. The murmur of voices, too soft to clearly understand, drifted into the hallway. I caught a word here and there, but that was it. “Causing trouble… eliminate… two days” was all I could make out, but it was enough. The timeline for whatever he was ordering was in two days’ time. I steeled myself, took a deep breath, then rapped my knuckles on the door.
Talking came to a halt, and not two seconds later, the door was yanked open. I blinked to adjust to the bright interior.
“What is it?” Ahmed growled.
I infused calm into my posture despite the mixture of rage and fear building to a crescendo in me. “What is this meeting about?” I leaned to the right, past Ahmed, to see who was within the room.
Oh no. Instinctually, I wanted to take cover from whom I’d glimpsed, but I forced my feet to grow roots. The person he was meeting with was none other than the leader of the Dark Wings, Jamal. He’d terrified me when I was younger. Nothing had changed since.
Ahmed’s thick brows rose, and a mocking smirk replaced the frown he’d worn a minute ago. “You want to be included in this meeting?” He took a step to the side, and Jamal got to his feet. The scar that marred his cheek made him even more frightening somehow. “I seem to remember, before Lily was born, pressing you to take an interest and you adamantly not wanting any involvement. Why now?”
This is for Lily. The shield I’d plastered on my face stayed strong. I wouldn’t let them see my fear. For my daughter, I would endure anything. “It’s time, don’t you think?” I mirrored Ahmed’s frown. “You have me run missions for you and do your dirty work but keep me from the heart of the business? The profits? The inner workings? I’m your daughter.” I notched my chin higher. They respected strength, cunning, and greed. “It is my birthright to be equal in your dealings, to share in the profits.”
“You are a girl. Why could you possibly think you have a seat in my arena?”
I met Ahmed’s challenge head-on. “A girl who has taken down assassins for you and who has completed every mission but one that you’ve sent me on. I am more than capable and a worthy adversary. It would be better to have me at your side than not.”
The threat hung between us while I witnessed a range of emotions bleed through Ahmed’s eyes—first fury, then my death, and finally, cunning acceptance. “Very well. Come in, daughter.”
I inclined my head as I entered the snake pit despite the mocking tone in his voice. In time, that would be dealt with. After a curt nod to acknowledge Jamal, I stood behind the chair to his right, my hands grasping the strong frame. I wouldn’t sit and put myself at a disadvantage. Ahmed shut the door and rounded the desk to take his seat. As Jamal lowered himself, I did too. Arms loose at my sides, I was hyper-focused on Jamal in case he decided to strike.
Memories of my time training with him after Keegan’s escape threatened to dismantle the tight control I had on my mind. Slamming up against an internal wall, I concentrated on Ahmed’s words and did everything I could to block the onslaught of terror that Jamal evoked in me.
It wasn’t the first time he’d been there. Ahmed hired him from time to time. Even so, my interactions with him had been limited, and I preferred it that way.
I would let the emotions out later if I must, but not just then. It would only have sealed my fate in the worst way possible, and that would not have helped Lily. No one spoke, which I found odd.
I waited another second then laid my cards on the table, since it was apparent that’s what Ahmed wanted. “What was in the backpack you wanted so badly, and have you recovered it since that night?” Refusing to acknowledge Jamal, I kept my gaze locked on Ahmed.
“The pack you failed to retrieve?”
Jamal was quiet, and for that, I was grateful. If I only had to deal with Ahmed for the next few minutes, I might survive the conversation. “There were extenuating circumstances. We’ve already discussed this.”
“It’s interesting that you failed to tell me that Max was a part of that equation.”
At the mention of Max, Jamal’s head swiveled my way, and I felt the cold burn of his dead gaze. “The hostage escaped with the pack while Max kept me occupied.”
They were unaware that I’d learned the hostage was Hugo, Keegan’s uncle, and I wasn’t about to tell them. “Maybe they were working together?” I volleyed back at him. They weren’t, but I would use any way I could to gain information.
“I find that interesting. Isn’t Max the person you and your husband were working with to take my granddaughter from me?”
Bastard. I wanted to tear him apart with my bare hands. He would not do to Lily what he’d done to me. I would see him dead before I let that happen. “She is my daughter, and I was trying to send her to her father, which you assumed you had a right to forbid. I did not know that the man Samir hired to help us was Max.” I sucked in air and fought to regain control of my emotions and the conversation. “What was in the backpack? And who was the man who got captured in the first place?” I pushed for any tidbit of information they might share so I could turn around and tell Keegan. There could have been new intel of benefit to him and his team.
“It’s irrelevant to you as plans are already in motion, and the hostage in question agreed to work with me despite your failed efforts.” Ahmed nodded toward Jamal, indicating he was taking over that particular operation. “However, if you insist on being more involved, I will endeavor to find work for you.”
“You’re missing the point.” I delivered my words in the same cold manner, spiced with malice, that he had. “I deserve to be brought into the fold, fully.”
“Perhaps, in time. But what I will do is share with you that we’re expecting a guest tomorrow evening. You may sit in on that meeting.”
“Who is the guest?” Ahmed’s dark eyes gleamed with malice, and I steeled myself against whatever he had up his sleeve, because it was definitely something. When he looked at me like that, he always had ulterior motives.
“Hugo Chavez.”
“Max’s uncle?” Maybe I was mistaken and he didn’t have anything up his sleeve. Maybe. Regardless, it was news I could relay.
“Yes. In the meantime”—Ahmed’s gaze narrowed—“it seems your skills are lacking, as you failed to eliminate your adversary.”
“I did the second time he came around.” He couldn’t possibly know that Keegan had lived. I’d bribed the guard with a large sum of money to report to Ahmed that he had disposed of the body. “He’s dead.”
“So you say.” Ahmed and Jamal exchanged a look that said they were exploring that detail. “Do not cross me, Kara. Ever. Or you’ll end up with the same fate as your mother.”
Ice spiked my blood. “What—?”
“Jamal will give you a refresher course so you will not fail again.” Ahmed rose, dismissing us.
The horror over working closely with Jamal for the next however many hours that night was overshadowed by the bomb Ahmed had dropped. Did he kill my mother?
14
Kara
I threw the Jeep into Park and plastered a smile on my face for the four people I’d driven into town. As I hugged each one, I tucked some money into their pockets and whispered that the time was nearing. They knew. On one of the many trips I’d made with a large rotating group of villagers, I’d shared that there would be a day when I might have to leave. They understood. Ahmed’s cruelty was known far and wide. I tried to do what I could for them—they were my people too.
What clothes, food, ridesharing, and whatever money I could smuggle from Ahmed, I passed on to them. I gave them all I could, and I had enough cash squirreled away in an offshore account for Lily and me if we
got away. Aside from that, I shared almost all the allowance he gave me to those in need. Mom had set up the secret account for me before she died, and I wondered whether that was why she’d been killed. I had a feeling there was more to the story than I was aware, but nothing could have shocked me at that point.
With a last squeeze to the seventy-year-old woman with white hair wrapped haphazardly atop her head, I made my way to Keegan. Meeting him was a huge risk, especially after what had happened the night before.
I inhaled shallow breaths so as not to aggravate my bruised ribs, courtesy of Jamal. That wasn’t all. The only thing he’d spared had been my face. The rest of my body was black and blue. The reason behind the abuse was simple: Ahmed instructed Jamal to ensure that I was too sore to escape.
I would have liked nothing more than to down heavy, mind-numbing painkillers, but I couldn’t afford to have a fuzzy mind or slow reactions. Discipline kept me from hunching over or limping. Showing pain was a weakness.
I hurried along the sidewalk while scanning my surroundings for anything out of the ordinary. There was a good chance that one of Jamal’s men was waiting for me, thanks to Ahmed. Because of that, I went into the clothing store, which was still in business only because of my insistence that Ahmed ensure they had government support, so I could buy clothes for Lily and myself.
Bells jingled above the door as I entered. Maria rushed around the counter, a smile on her lean face.
“Good morning.”
“Kara, it’s so good to see you.” She wrung her hands, her features strained.
“Is everything all right?” My body tensed, ready for anything.
After a few vigorous nods, she ventured closer. “Yes. A large man was in here earlier. He didn’t say anything but checked the dressing rooms and the back area too.”
