"You said one word a split second before you split open my skull."
He shrugged those massive shoulders. "It's all the time we had. I made a judgment call."
"You made the wrong call."
"Me? What about you? You can't just walk up to a man like Ashad and point a gun at him. He always has protection. If you really worked for him, you'd already know that. So who do you really work for?"
"I work for a local au pair service. We're hired out to families on vacation."
Steve studied her with narrowed eyes. "People bring their kids on vacation to have a complete stranger take care of them?"
"Would you want to be on the most beautiful beach in the entire world with your children screaming at you for a snow cone? Or would you rather hire professional babysitters to watch them while you sip on a Mai Tai?"
He shook his head as he muttered a curse. "If I went on a vacation with family, I'd want to be on the vacation as a family."
Sweet Jesus, she wanted to marry him. Men like him simply didn't exist anymore. Jo pulled herself together with a quick breath. "Regardless of what you think, it is what it is. I'm Amoor Ashad's nanny for the week."
Steve casually shook his head. "You're more than that, sweetheart. Nannies don't sneak away, only to return with a gun. My guess is you inserted yourself and I'm going to find out why. So I'll ask you one last time before I torture it out of you. Why are you here?"
She couldn't lie. Not to him. Not to anyone. She'd barely stretched the truth to convince the nanny service to send her in to care for Ashad's four children. If she didn't already adore kids of every shape and size, she would have blown her cover the minute she spotted the monster responsible for her personal hell.
Six years it took her to track him down. Six years of grief eating away at her like a disease. Every family she saw was a constant reminder of the one she’d lost. It fueled her determination to track down the devil responsible.
"Let's start over." Steve's voice was softer, warmer. He kept the ice on her head with one hand and pushed her hair away from her face with the other. His knuckles brushed her cheek, pulling her gaze to his. Damn, those were some deep eyes. "What's your name?"
"Jo."
"Jo what? Do you have a last name?"
Why did he continue to gently touch her face? It distracted her with delicious chills whispering across her skin. Her last name finally came to her. "McClure. Joanna McClure. All of my friends call me Jo."
"Am I a friend?" His lips quirked in a tease.
"I haven't decided," she mused. "Friends don't knock friends out."
"When they’re trying to save your life, they do." He removed the ice and set it on the couch between them as his expression grew somber. "You would have died today, Jo. For every man you saw, there were two more you didn't. Ashad's men would have killed you the instant they saw the gun."
She drew in a sharp intake of breath. Yes, she knew she could have died today. In fact, she'd expected it, had mentally prepared for it ever since starting her hunt for him. Sacrificing her life to kill the bastard who took her family from her restored the balance. Just in the last six months he’d started hiring au pairs. It was simply weird, dumb luck that Jo stumbled upon Marita Point at the same time Ashad had. She wasn't about to turn away the cards fate had dealt her.
"Why do you want Ashad dead?"
Jo slammed her gaze to him as the hatred burning in her soul bubbled to the surface. "He's a monster."
"No argument there. Tell me what happened. What did he do to you? This is obviously personal for you."
Should she trust him? Did she have a choice? He mentioned competition and this being his op. Could he be an assassin? He may be her best chance at actually killing the bastard.
"Six years ago my brother and his wife, their two small children, my fiancé, and I were all on the underground train in London on holiday when the terrorists attacked. It was utter chaos." She closed her eyes against the brutal memory as the images attacked her brain. "The blood. The bodies. I was buried under rubble and screamed for Ian, but he never came."
"Was Ian your fiancé?"
It still felt wrong to talk about him in the past tense. "They say fifty-two innocent people lost their lives that day, but they never took into account all the lives lost."
Steve studied her for several seconds. "You were pregnant and lost the baby."
He either was one hell of a people reader or she wore it all over her face. Either way, it shocked her that he caught on so fast. She sucked in a breath. "Apparently, I was hemorrhaging quite severely. So much, in fact, they had to perform an emergency hysterectomy. I lost everything that day. My brother and his wife, my two small nieces, my fiancé, my child, and my ability to have any more children. Ashad took that from me.” She’d spent long enough crying over her losses. Today was about payback. Amoor Ashad didn’t deserve to live while the rest of her family didn’t. She’d see he didn’t make it out of this alive. She wiped at her tears, hopefully before Steve spotted them. “I'm simply here to return the favor."
"Kill the entire Ashad family?"
She dropped her jaw at the thought. "Absolutely not. Those kids never did a thing to deserve what they've already gone through. Little Jimmy is only four years old. Do you think he even understands the monster he calls papa?"
"That won't stop him from growing up to be just as much a monster as his father."
"You're wrong." She couldn't fathom any of the Ashad kids she'd grown to love like her own being anything but perfect as adults. Steve didn't know them the way she did.
"Trust me, sweetheart. I've seen it way too many times. Spare the kid, only to take him out later when he tries to kill me. I could save us all a hell of a lot of time if I just eliminate that entire bloodline." He pushed off the couch.
She jumped up, her headache pounding in her ears, but she didn't care. "You can't hurt those kids. I won't let you."
He gave her a hard, sideways glance. "Do you really think you can stop me?" He leaned his back against the wall and glowered.
"I'll protect them," she declared and marched over, stopping only a foot from him. A shudder ripped up her spine when he leaned toward her, his gaze fixed on her lips. He snapped rigid and went back to glaring. "You don't scare me."
"You're willing to go up against me?" To make his point, he reached around to the small of her back and jerked her body against his. She stared at his chin, determined not to eat him up in her gaze and give herself away.
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to protect those kids."
"You've known them a day."
"Four," she corrected. "And they're innocent children."
"That will grow up to be just like daddy."
She pushed at his hard chest, breaking their contact. "You don't know that. Hessa would never allow it. She's protective over her kids."
"And yet she let her husband bring in a perfect stranger to take care of them while she sipped Mai Tais." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah. Extremely protective."
How dare he. "You don't have a family, do you?"
He worked his jaw and jerked his attention away. "Time for you to jump on the first flight back to London."
Okay. Touchy subject. Jo made a mental note to hit him with it again if he stonewalled her like he did now. "I'm not leaving, not now that I'm so close. You need me."
"The hell I do, lady. I've got an in with him now."
"Oh? And how's that?"
"Ashad invited me to dinner. I can take it from here."
"Dinner?" Jo widened her eyes as she processed that tidbit. Fear gripped her and tightened her chest. The poor sod had no idea what he'd just agreed to. Ashad had already invited two other guards to dinner in his private bungalow since she'd started working for him. They disappeared after that. "At his bungalow?"
He stiffened as his expression hardened. "That's right."
Oh, sweet Lord. She had to stop him. As much as she wanted to get the upper hand on him, knowing he’d
agreed to a trap had her desperate to stop him. "You won't make it out alive."
"Excuse me?"
"I've been with the Ashads for several days now. He's held exactly two dinners at his private bungalow. Both of his guests are still missing."
Steve's mouth fell open. "Are you saying I'm being set up?"
She nodded. "Unless you give him reason not to kill you. Say…working out a plan to have the nanny bring Jimmy by to make sure he's okay. He won't do anything in front of the boys. This much I know."
He looked at her. "You ever kill anyone before?"
She shook her head. "But that doesn't mean I'm not capable." He rolled his eyes just as a knock at her door startled her and she grabbed his arms. Holy hell, those were some muscles. "Who is that?"
"Hollywood," he growled and moved to the door.
Jo sucked in a breath. Just what kind of agency had agents all look like beautiful eye candy? This one had blond stubble and piercing blue eyes. And yes, he was very good-looking. She bounced her attention to Steve and held it there. The sun-bleached hair. The liquid-brown eyes. The skin, bronzed to perfection, stretching across all those rippling muscles. He won.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Steve barked at the man.
The visitor moved into the room and closed the door behind him. "I could ask you the same thing."
"This is my private room."
He jerked his gaze to Jo and narrowed it. "Is this our party crasher?"
"Jo McClure," she corrected and chewed on her lip as she waited for him to introduce himself, but he never did. "I'm the nanny."
The guy shook his head as he glared at Steve. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
"Calm down." Steve grabbed Jo's hand and her heart skipped. He dragged her over to the man. "Jo, meet Dan Weber. Weber, meet Jo. She's a civilian with a bone to pick."
"She's not the only one," Weber growled.
"With Ashad," Steve added. Weber relaxed ever so slightly. "She was on one of the trains he bombed in London back in 2005. She lost her entire family."
Weber turned to her, his expression somber. "I'm sorry for your loss." He then hardened back into the man she first saw at the door. "We can't have a civilian mixed up in this find."
"She's not. I sort of knocked her out with the butt of my gun and was just making sure she was okay before sending her home."
"There was no sort of about it," Jo cut in to correct him. "I feel like I have a rugby team scrumming in my head."
Both Steve and Weber looked at her.
"What? You don't have rugby in America?"
"We have football," Weber pointed out. "Not what you call football, but real football."
Americans. "Steve and I were just going through our plans for Ashad tonight."
Weber shook his head and glared at Steve. "She's not mixed up in our find?"
Steve grinned and shrugged.
"Clean yourself up, Broadway." Weber grabbed Steve by the neck and shoved him toward the bathroom. "Thank you for your time, Jo. Sorry for any inconvenience this guy has caused. You can go."
No. She had to know they were going to kill Ashad. If they weren't, she would. It was the only purpose driving her. "You are going to kill him tonight, aren't you?"
Weber froze and whipped around, glaring at her with those intense eyes. "What did you just say?"
"Steve works for an agency that sent him here to kill Amoor Ashad. I'm guessing you work for that same agency, which means you're here to kill him, too. I came here for the same reason and want to help."
Slowly swinging his attention to Steve, Weber growled. "Anything else classified you shared with our civilian friend?"
"No." Steve grinned wide. "But I am having dinner with Ashad tonight."
"As am I," Jo added. She'd find a way to be a part of this.
"Un-fucking-believable." Weber shook his head.
Jo went to the door. "I should go get ready. Ashad expects formal dress for dinner." Despite her attempts not to, she gave Steve a slow and steady once over, devouring him with her gaze. Damn, he was a beautiful man. “You may want to change.”
"What, no tank tops and shorts?" Steve tilted his head as he studied her.
She couldn't help but smile. "I'm sure you'll clean up quite nice. I'll bring Jimmy by at eight-thirty. Try to stay alive until then."
THREE
Great. Just fucking great. Not only did he have the complication of Ashad's family to deal with, he now had a woman with no tactical experience and a personal vendetta to keep an eye on. Oh, and he couldn't forget the fact that Weber was less than pleased about it. Not that it mattered. Weber was less than pleased about everything.
As Steve dressed for dinner, he thought about his situation. Weber sat at the table, making growly grunts and sighing a lot. He didn't want Steve to go in unarmed and reminded him of that fact every five fucking minutes.
But he didn't have a choice. He'd be searched the instant he showed. If he had a gun on him, he'd end up with a bullet to the brain before he even registered shock.
"How do I look?" Steve faced Weber. He held out his arms and did a full 360, showing off the tan slacks and dark brown button up shirt.
"Presentable."
"Where did you find dress clothes around here?"
"I have friends." Weber went back to reading through the paperwork and grunting.
"Donovan?"
Weber said nothing about their SAC and continued to scowl at the papers in his hand.
"How is he?"
"He's walking again," Weber answered in his usual, less-than-wordy response.
Steve nodded as he recalled that horrific day in the lab. LEON was never supposed to be tested on humans. The man was an absolute idiot for injecting the nanobots into his leg. "Is he going to make a full recovery?"
"Not likely." Weber sighed. "He'll always need a cane to get around. His field days are over."
For several seconds, Steve watched his best friend, gauging his reaction. Ron Donovan was friends with all of them, but he held a special place with Weber. This bugged the shit out of the guy.
And then it clicked. "That's why you gave up your SAC job, to give it to him so he still had a place in TREX." Goddamn it. As if Steve didn’t have enough reason to respect the shit out of his best friend, Weber had to go and do something fucking noble.
Weber shook his head. "I was already back in the field."
"You were up for SAC again and you told me you were going to take it. Then, out of the blue, you turned it down. That's why, isn't it? You gave it up so he wouldn't be forced to retire like you forced on Lyons."
Weber sagged, his shoulders weighing down with the weight of his decisions as SAC. "I wanted to give Lyons a chance to live. Instead, I killed him."
"You didn't kill him." Steve approached the table. "Jesus Christ, Dan. Do you honestly think you had a fucking thing to do with Gabriel Lyons's death? You sure as hell didn't."
But the guilt ate into the lines on Weber's face, aging him. He clearly believed he killed one of the field agents who took a sniper's bullet on that fucked mission.
"Tell you what. After this find, we celebrate, just you and me. We'll get us a bottle of Jack. Come on, man. Snap out of this slump you're in. It really sucks seeing you so un-fucking-happy all the goddamn time."
"It's who I am." Weber sank lower in the chair, his voice barely above a growl.
"Bullshit!" Steve slammed a palm on the table and leaned in. "When we raced off-road together, you never stopped smiling. Even when we did movies, you were always the one grinning, saying we were living the life. TREX recruited us and we both jumped at the chance, and never looked back. So what the fuck is wrong with you?"
Weber shot up so fast the chair flew behind him and slammed into a nearby end table. "What do you think, Steve? We're in the middle of fucking paradise and I'm stuck in the goddamn room. You're out meeting nannies and getting dinner dates with our target. I hate being on the sidelines. It gives me too much time to think
."
"We need to get you laid," Steve declared. Weber glared, but as Steve grinned, Weber did, too.
"You're an asshole."
"Yep."
"And I hate you."
"Nope."
Weber shook his head as he chuckled. "Go kill us a terrorist and open up a spot on the FBI's most wanted list, would you? Quit bending my ear."
"You're welcome."
“I never said thank you.”
“Yes, you did.” Steve whistled as he left the room and casually made his way outside, onto the beach. The wind was warm and he drew in a deep breath as he cracked his knuckles. He knew several ways to kill Ashad that wouldn't require anything but his hands. Steve's grin grew.
By the time he got close enough to spot Ashad's private bungalow, his shoes were full of sand. He pulled them off and walked up to the hut. Two new guards flanked the door.
"What you want?" the taller one ordered.
Steve kept them both in his peripherals. "I'm here on invitation."
The tall one nodded at his counterpart, who disappeared and reappeared moments later, giving Steve a nod. "Please go in."
"Thank you." Steve left his shoes outside and stepped inside. The bungalow wasn't anything special. He'd stayed in nicer outfits. It had a large open main room with a dining table set for two, two silver plates with covers on opposite ends. Interesting. Apparently Jo was right—he and Ashad were dining alone.
Would only one of them come out alive?
"Steve." Ashad rounded a corner and approached, a wide, somewhat wild smile on his face. "I'm pleased to see you arrive on time."
"I respect a man's time," Steve replied and fought to keep the bile from hitting the back of his throat.
"I knew I liked you for a reason." Ashad patted Steve on the cheek and he nearly snapped his neck that instant but held back. Despite his mission to kill Ashad, he really did want to check on Jimmy. Hell, if he could find a way to save all the kids, Hessa too, he'd do it in a heartbeat.
But Steve lived in reality. As harsh as it was, he couldn't change the fact that every last one of the Ashads posed a threat to the United States, despite his age. The wife, too. He didn't want to do it, but his orders were clear.
No Way Out (TREX) Page 2
