by Gennita Low
“Physical functioning at seventy percent. Mental at ninety,” Hawk said wryly. He knew Jed would figure that if he could joke about his condition, then he wasn’t too seriously injured. His tone of voice became more serious. “At least my legs aren’t broken, so I can do a lot of hiking.”
“You’re fortunate Amber came to get you when she did, then,” Jed said. “Our observer contacted us and said that they took you down at the brothel.”
“I suppose an observer can’t lift a finger to help out, can they?” Hawk asked. He watched Amber set up the links to his laptop, sitting in bed beside him. She had even managed to snatch that from Dilaver’s man. What a woman. He caressed between her shoulder blades and she looked up at him inquiringly. He shook his head. “She’s almost ready to link.”
“He was too far away to help, Hawk, and wasn’t even sure whether you were alive. He did say you took down fifteen of Dilaver’s men before shots were fired. There were several fights happening and he thought he saw someone shoot you. We were hoping it wasn’t you, but since we had no contact from you for a while, we had to accept the possibility.” There was little emotion in Jed’s voice. “Tell Amber I’m ready whenever she is.”
“She’s almost there.” Amber was enabling a direct video link with Jed so they could consult back and forth using visual aids such as maps. Hawk could do it himself, but he wanted to let Jed see how much he trusted Amber at this point without going into a full discussion in front of her. He knew the other man would get his not-so-subtle message. “How long before you can get back to me about what Dilaver and this new person, Greta, are planning?”
“Give us a couple of hours. Probably this evening, before you leave the area.”
“Good.” By then he should be a bit more rested and able to process all the new information. To be honest, his mental state wasn’t at ninety percent. He needed to be very alert, especially during the first leg of their journey, when they had to sneak past Dilaver-controlled road posts.
“Link’s ready,” Amber said.
“Okay, Jed, everything’s secured at our end. We’re ready to transmit.”
“Hang on.” There was a pause. “Ready to link up here. There we go.”
Hawk leaned closer to Amber. A moment later, Jed’s face appeared on the screen of his laptop. To his surprise, instead of his usual attire of jeans jacket, the COS commando team leader was wearing a tuxedo.
“Did we interrupt something important?” Hawk asked. Like all computer linkups, it took several seconds before his question was transmitted through to wherever Jed was.
“I always dress up for dinner,” Jed replied with a straight face. “You don’t look so good, Hawk. Hello, Ambrosia, long time.”
“Jed, it has been a while.” Did he imagine it or did her voice lower a notch? Hawk resisted the urge to turn his head to look at Amber. “How have you been?”
“Good. Can you handle this route?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem.” Amber tapped on the keyboard. “I’m transmitting the map I’ve prepared. Hawk’s coordinates match a few areas. Time being the key thing here, which of these routes should we head for?”
“We’re printing it right now. Hang on.”
Jed disappeared off-screen for a moment, then reappeared with a piece of paper. He studied Amber’s map, then talked to someone off-camera to the right of him. It sounded like French, but Hawk couldn’t make out the words. It totally fascinated him to see how comfortable the other man looked all suited up, looking so civilized. He looked far from the “Stefan” he knew in Asia, a jeans-clad weapons dealer, carousing with the local kingpin’s sister and making shady deals with dangerous characters. Hawk would never have imagined Jed McNeil would even fit into surroundings that required a dress code.
Jed looked up, his silvery eyes unerringly directed at Hawk. “First, I agree that you should abandon the initial plan to destroy every cache of weapons shown here. The most important thing is to get to the target weapon. Once you have it, you can contact me again and I’ll send a contact to pick it up. Second, we have compared your coordinates with the aid and relief dropoffs by manned and unmanned U.S. aerial vehicles the last six months. Although your physical description of the woman doesn’t fit, we have reason to believe that Greta is the same handler that had worked as a secretary to Deputy Director Philip Gorman’s task force in the CIA for the past ten years, so we have a paper trail. We’re transmitting a file photo. We have computed that the target weapon is in the cache between Elbasan and Tirana at ninety percent.
“The third factor is still an unknown. We’re concentrating on all political activities in that part of the world in the next seven to ten days and putting out a code red alert. From what little Dilaver hinted to Ambrosia, the target weapon is to be used after a decoy has been activated. There’s an international summit going on in Skopje right now and the main meeting with certain world leaders present in two days. That, however, will be off the seven-day deadline, so we’re assuming that either the event or threat is a decoy and there’s another target. Keep your cell or your watch close by, Hawk. Someone will contact you. Check for messages whenever you can.”
“Will do,” Hawk said.
“Still the same prepared guy, aren’t you, Jed?” Amber asked.
Jed gave her the barest of smiles. “Still trolling for information, Ambrosia?”
“I can’t help but notice that little pin on your collar, that’s all. You’re at this summit already, aren’t you?”
Hawk frowned. “Wait a minute. You’re here in Macedonia, Jed?”
Jed’s expression remained blank. “It’s just a pin. We’ll talk soon. Any messages for Admiral Madison?”
Hawk straightened up at the mention of his commander’s name. “Please let him know that I’m standing and ready for the team.”
Jed nodded. “Talk to you soon. Amber, consider your veza settled.”
A favor. So, there was a history between Jed McNeil and Amber. He turned his head just in time to catch her smile at Jed.
“No more free rides for you, Jed McNeil,” she told him.
“Don’t be too sure, Ambrosia,” Jed said. The screen turned to snow as the transmission was cut off.
“Are you two close friends?” Hawk asked as Amber closed the laptop.
“We’ve known each other for a while,” she said.
He didn’t like her vague reply. “How close?” he insisted.
She put the laptop on the nightstand and turned to face him. “He saved my life,” she said.
Hawk let her push him back against the pillow. “Oh,” he said. Well, hell, what was a man to say to that? “I guess that’s why you feel you have to help him in this operation.”
Amber curled up next to him. She buried her face in his neck. “No, you’re the reason why I decided to help him in this operation. Satisfied your curiosity enough for now?”
Hawk smiled. “Yes,” he said, and obediently closed his eyes. They both needed to rest. They could talk more later.
“Who’s Admiral Madison?” she asked.
“Not an ex-lover,” he assured her sleepily. “Satisfied your curiosity for now?”
She chuckled and snuggled closer, sliding a hand around his waist. So much to tell her. And with the imminent danger ahead, Hawk was determined to see it through so he could have all the time in the world to tell her everything.
21
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything here,” Lily said, giving Amber a quick hug.
Amber held her friend tightly for a second. They were going separate ways—Brad with Lily, acting as Amber’s decoy by wearing a blond wig, were heading back to his place to get “her” things, whereas Amber and Hawk would start for the western border, toward Albania.
“I’m sorry about this,” Amber said. She felt bad, as if she were abandoning Lily. “I have passports for each of the girls ready in the large envelope. If you need cash—”
“How many times have I done this? Don’t worry s
o much.”
It wasn’t that she worried about Lily, but it was her responsibility to do the paperwork in their operation. Whereas Lily’s skills had always been on the survival side, rescuing the kidnapped girls and guiding them safely out of Macedonia, Amber undertook all necessary detail work to prepare the girls for their new lives. It was she who got the fake passports ready, double-checked all the tickets for the girls going overseas, and, most important of all, made sure the girls understood what they had to do to make it safely to their destinations.
With Hawk’s escape, Lily was afraid that Dilaver might go house to house looking for him, and would come upon the safe houses. She suggested she would take the current group of girls out of Macedonia immediately. Amber had agreed. She felt she had let Lily down.
“We do what we have to do,” Lily continued. “Call me so I don’t worry.”
“I will.”
“Here’s the map to where Dija is,” Lily said, giving her a piece of paper. “I’ve already talked to him and he’ll let you guys through somehow.”
“Can we really trust him?” Amber looked at the drawn map doubtfully.
Lily shrugged. “It’s a risk you’ll have to decide. Hawk saved his life back there at the hills and this is a simple return favor. Dija has always kept his word to me.”
“Okay, thanks.” Amber gave Lily another hug. “It’s dark enough now that they can’t really see your face. You look gorgeous as a blonde, by the way.”
“Yeah, watch me scoot down in the car so I look petite like you.”
Laughing, Amber stuck a tongue out at her friend before turning to go back upstairs. Hawk was having his ribs tightly bandaged by one of the housekeepers. When she opened the door, she found several of the girls keeping him company, fussing over his injuries. They had heard about what had happened and had been worried. It astonished her to see how these girls, most of whom had grown to dislike men, had warmed up to Hawk.
He looked up and his puffy lips attempted a crooked smile. Her heart did a slow somersault at the look in his eyes. Sexy. And dangerous. The man must be superman. A few hours of rest just couldn’t be enough for an ordinary guy to look so ready for battle again.
One of the girls touched his shoulder. “Be careful and good luck,” she said.
Hawk nodded. He glanced back at Amber. “Don’t worry. I’ve got Amber to take care of me,” he said.
Brad was surprised Lily had agreed to this part of the plan. Going back to his place couldn’t be comfortable for her. Hell, he wasn’t comfortable, either. But he was going to try to be a gentleman and not force himself on her.
“You’re still angry with me, aren’t you?” Lily surprised him by bringing it up.
He congratulated himself silently at not braking the car to a dead stop. “I’m not angry,” he said quietly. Not now that he understood her, anyway.
“Why? Because you feel sorry for me?”
There was the slightest hint of bitterness in her voice. He couldn’t see her face in the evening darkness.
“I’m not sure how I feel at the moment,” Brad said honestly. He checked the rearview mirror. “We’re being followed, by the way.”
Lily sat up a little straighter, fluffing her hair. “Probably Dilaver checking to make sure Amber and you are doing what you both said you were doing.”
They came to a stoplight and the car pulled next to Brad’s. Lily looked down, then turned away so they could only see the back of her head.
“What are they doing?” she asked, casually leaning over to flick something off his collar.
“Two men. Watching us.” He turned and gave her a smile. “Can I kiss you before we turn into my garage? It’ll make it seem like we have romance on our minds.”
“All right,” she whispered.
Brad leaned down and softly brushed her lips with his. To his surprise, she opened her mouth, inviting him to taste her. He slid his tongue into her mouth and she nudged closer, eagerly responding. It was more than he had expected and he didn’t want the kiss to end, taking his time to explore her softness. For his part, he wasn’t pretending.
A honk from behind jolted his consciousness and he released her lips. The light had turned green. He looked over Lily’s shoulder and caught the occupants from the other car looking at them, grinning. Another honk, more impatient this time, from the driver at the back. He turned and started the car moving again.
They didn’t say anything as he turned into his street. He checked the rearview mirror. They were still being followed. As he activated the garage door opener, he turned and pulled Lily into his arms. She came willingly and he briefly wondered whether she was still playing the part of Amber. Of course she had to be. But he no longer cared.
“I want them to see how much I want you,” he told her, and kissed her again.
The ride to the mountain pass was uneventful. No one paid attention to the old van used to transport the girls. Hawk had made sure they weren’t being followed as he followed Lily’s map. Just before they reached the border, he pulled over so Amber could get into the back.
This was perhaps the most important part of the passage. Dilaver controlled many of the border gangs and he was sure to have everyone on the lookout for them. Through the years, Amber and Lily had mapped out which were the safest routes in and out of Macedonia, “safe” being a relative term here, as all sorts of shady characters resided in the mountains. Lily had many contacts and she told them that there was a price on the Americans’ heads. Alive.
When they stopped at the roadblock, Hawk gazed directly into Dija’s eyes. In spite of all this veza stuff among the locals, he much preferred to trust his own instincts. The other man had told Lily he would let Amber and him pass through because Hawk had spared his life in the firefight. He supposed that was the mercenary’s way of returning the favor. Fair enough.
Still, he didn’t put all his trust in the man’s word. Dija was, after all, a mercenary, someone who put a price on lives.
“What are you transporting at this hour?” Dija asked.
“Fruit.” Amber had assured Hawk that she would be ready back there if Dija decided to betray them. “Market day tomorrow.”
Dija turned to the man next to him. “I’ll look in the back. You stay here.”
Hawk didn’t turn his head as he listened to Dija’s footsteps leading to the back of the van. The sound of the back door opening. He smiled at the other man standing by his side of the vehicle. The back door slammed shut. Dija trotted back to the front, his weapon pointing down at the ground.
“Okay, you can go,” he said crisply.
Hawk met his eyes one last time. “Thank you,” he said.
“Not a problem,” Dija answered.
Hawk drove about ten kilometers before he found a good place to hide the van. He got out in the dark. He could hear Amber getting out of the vehicle from the back. They had to abandon it and go the rest of the way on foot. They didn’t have the paperwork to show to the authorities and the Serbian police were no better than Macedonian thugs, except that they had prisons in which to beat people.
“Well, that was easy enough,” he said, half joking. The country roads that connected Macedonia with Albania were sort of a no-man’s-land where two sides were at war. The KLA was determined to take control of as much land as possible and sporadic battles broke out without any provocation. “He didn’t give any hint of having seen you back there at all.”
“Dija moved some fruit around, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to look too closely,” Amber said.
“What are you looking at?”
Amber had pulled out something from her bag. “Another map. I want to get our bearings right.” She pointed to several spots on the map. “These are places to avoid. More gangs or checkpoints. We’ll have to move around them and try not to get caught in a battle. Oh well, at least we still have my handy bag of weapons.”
It amused him to listen to her talk of the operation ahead as casually as the way she followed one
of her recipes. In a way, she reminded him of Jazz, who could talk strategy and make it sound like music. He knew that she would get along with his SEAL brother.
“If we follow the trail around this lake,” he said, “then we’ll get to Elbasan first.” The cache they were looking for was between Elbasan and Tirana.
“It’s a long hike from here. Most of Tirana is hilly, perfect to hide a weapons dropoff. It’s going to take at least a day.” She rubbed his arm. “Or more, with your injuries.”
Hawk knew she was concerned about his bruised ribs. He ran a finger down the curve of her cheek. “I can do this, sweetheart. Trust me.” He had to tell the truth now. “I’m a Navy SEAL, so I’m quite used to a lot of pain.”
“A what?”
“Navy SEAL,” Hawk said. “It stands for sea, air, and land, and I—”
“I know what a SEAL is,” Amber interrupted. “You said you’re one.”
He stroked her soft skin again. “Yeah.” He didn’t blink when she shone her flashlight at his face, looking at him closely. He cocked his head. “Don’t look any different, do I?”
“You’re a soldier?”
Hawk shook his head. “See, you don’t know what a SEAL is. I’m a sailor, sweetheart. You know…Navy SEAL.”
She waved the flashlight away. “What’s the difference? You’re military.” There was disbelief in her voice.
“Don’t let my frog brothers hear you say that. Plenty of difference. When I have time, I’ll have to teach you.”
He waited as she stood there thinking about what he had just told her. He knew she had thought he was a part of Jed’s outfit and, being Amber, had him all figured out in her head. Or so she had thought.
“Frog brothers?” she muttered. “So you can swim?”
Hawk chuckled. “Yeah, I can swim. I’ll take you sometime, too.”
“But I can’t swim, except doggy-paddle.”
He hadn’t thought of that. “Okay, then I’ll teach you.” He took hold of her hand. “What I was trying to say was that I’ve been trained to do this.”
