Black Dawn

by Cristin Harber

  “Come on, Parker. You’re not putting one person above the safety and security of a nation?”

  “Of course I’m not, asshole.” Though that sounded exactly like what he was doing. Shit. “Give me another option. We’ll work on it.”

  “We’re up against a hard deadline. I don’t have time to come up with another option. You can find anyone; our plan was for you to find SilverChaos.”

  “I call bullshit for having only one plan.”

  “You need to make this play happen. Run it by him—her. Whatever she wants. Done. Record cleared—”

  “That is just one of the reasons I don’t want to turn her over to you. You assume she’s a criminal? No more than you and me, man. Plucking people out of nowhere—”

  “Don’t compare some hacker to intelligence work.”

  “She’s elite.”

  “And I’m decorated. Get her in the goddamn office.”

  Parker rubbed a hand over his face, knowing that he’d walked into that one, but worse was knowing that if it hadn’t been Lexi, he never would have balked.

  “Parker, I’m one phone call away from contacting Jared Westin. No one wants to do that.”

  He cackled. “Call Jared. See if he doesn’t defer to me, asshole. Let me be clear to you. If Silver does anything associated with this job, I call the shots and I run point. You got that? Because Jared will defer to me.”

  “Fuck me, tell me Silver’s not actually Titan?”

  “In every sense of the word. For all you care, Silver is Titan in every conceivable way you can imagine, then some you can’t.”

  The man grumbled in Parker’s ear before agreeing. “Call you back.”

  “Fine. Call, as long as you have more than one option.” Parker hung up the phone, pocketed it, and turned to find Lexi staring at him.

  “What do they want me to do?” she asked.

  Damn it. “No idea. I didn’t get that far because they didn’t have another option for consideration.” That, and no way was he involving her in anything like this. He could imagine the job—sending her to some Jihadist work site—and it didn’t matter if it was in the States or overseas. It was a big, fat, hell no.

  “I can help.”

  “They’re going to ask for a lot more than help, Lex.” Like her life. He wouldn’t risk it, and he wouldn’t let her consider it either. Parker shook his head, feeling anxiety grow in his chest. SilverChaos was the best option for the greater good. “No. Nope. No way. There’s always another way. They shouldn’t have approached me with a single option.”

  She pulled her cell from her back pocket. “I’ll call Sugar. She’ll call Jared, and I can talk to whoever that was.”

  “Lex.”

  “And then I’ll get my way.”

  He rubbed his temple. “You have no idea what you’re asking. I have no idea what they want, just a few assumptions. So to agree to that before we even know? I can’t, and you won’t.”

  “But I can.”

  “Why?” he near-shouted, frustration at the situation choking him.

  “You know I’m the best solution. If I can keep people from being hurt, then I want to.”

  “Lex—”

  “I created it, don’t you get that? I have a responsibility to stop it.”

  “And I have a responsibility to you!” He threw out his arms. “I want you here. I need you here. In this house. Under this roof. I need you just as badly as I love you. Goddamn it, I don’t want to run the numbers on this op’s risk. I don’t want to crunch data as to whether or not you will make it out alive. Alive! Don’t you get that?”

  She blinked, not saying a word.

  His insides raged. Not at her. Just at the world, just because she was right. “I can’t look at statistical computations and make any justification for what should be done, what’s worth the risk. It eats me alive, but I can’t choose them over you. You. Are. Mine. And I can’t say I want you to help because it’d be a lie.”

  Breathing like a mad man, he paced the room. She didn’t budge, just watched him circle as his phone rang again.

  “Shit,” he growled. It would either be Boss Man or his point of contact at the DIA. Either way, he didn’t want to take the call. But he grabbed the phone, his sense of honor warring with his sense of self. DIA POC. Shit again, but he answered. “Better be good news.”

  “Sorry—”

  He flung the phone on the bed and stormed out.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  The phone’s screen ticked seconds away, and Lexi alternated looking at it and at the door Parker had just stormed through. She’d put him in this crappy position, torn between doing the right thing and what he wanted to do. Well, she could make life a lot easier for him. Holding her breath, she climbed onto the bed and held the cell as if this was a make-or-break moment. And it was, on several levels. She was choosing to protect Parker from her, but at the same time, going against his wishes. She was also protecting the world from what she’d created. She couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try.

  Gingerly, she held the phone to her ear. This conversation could change the course of her life. Parker could walk away from her or, as he’d made clear, she might die.

  Crap. No good solution.

  Lexi took a deep breath and whispered, “Hello?”

  “Hello? Who is this?”

  Her insides trembled. “This is Silver.”

  There was a long pause, making her wonder if she had done the wrong thing.

  “Hello?” she tried again.

  Finally, a string of low curses. “It’s ten fifty-seven on a Wednesday night. He’s flipping out, and you’re on the phone.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re Parker Black’s woman?”

  She nodded. “Yes.” Though pulling a move like this might mean she would no longer be Parker’s. “Can you tell me what’s going on? Or at least why you need me?”

  “Goddamn it. Hang on.” There was noise in the background, as if whoever it was was talking to someone else. Seconds ticked by. “I can’t share, Silver. It’s classified.”

  “But it’s about me? I want to help, just talk to me.”

  “Shit. Let me think. We’ll call back.”

  “No. Wait. Tell me enough, what’s not classified.” Because if he got off the phone and started talking about her as Parker’s woman, not Silver the hacker, she didn’t trust that anyone would make an unbiased decision. “I can make this happen. I have to help. I—need to. But I can’t hurt him, and he won’t put me in a dangerous position. Just give me enough that I can tell you what to do with me, then you do what you need to.”

  He cursed and mumbled, “Don’t hang up.”

  She heard Parker stomping around the house. Soon as he realized she was on the phone with whoever this guy was, the conversation would end fast. “Hurry.”

  But he was already gone. She waited, watching the digital alarm clock. One minute, then two ticked by.

  “Ma’am?”

  “Yes?” she said, watching the door for Parker.

  “We’ll tell you what we can.” He spent the next two minutes vaguely talking about the program she had designed, who had it, where they had it, and why it appeared they were stuck. The laptop wasn’t far, likely in a stronghold on the east coast, where their so-called expert hackers had tried and failed to repair the improperly functioning code. Shadow had been tortured, and someone had made an attempt to find her twice. But the ARO hadn’t outsourced well in either their code-breaking or kidnapping talent.

  The man then took a deep breath and rushed through the details that the Arab Resistance Organization was known for executing those who’d served their purpose or who had failed. No wonder Parker’s risk analysis aversion was so intense. All of the information scared the bejesus out of her.

  Eventually the ARO’s trial and error would fix their Monarch problems, then lots of people would die. She had no choice but to get involved. But she was so far out of her comfort zone that she couldn’t see
where her next move started. No way could she do this alone.

  “I have an idea,” she said shakily. “Call back in thirty minutes.” Even though presenting Parker with the idea would bring a certain yes or no within a matter of seconds.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Then the line went silent.

  Alright then. She steeled her nerves and went in search of the noisemaker who kept stealing her heart. She found him in the living room, pulling books that had already been perfectly lined up on shelves and slamming them back into place.

  “Hey.” She picked up a thick programming interface book and handed it to him.

  “Hey.” He slammed the hardback into a precise spot.

  She grabbed another, this one on risk analysis of military security. “Don’t be a baby.”

  His smoldering blue eyes narrowed. “Knowing the statistical outcome of any op that you might die in doesn’t—”

  “I have an idea.” She pushed the book at him. “We could work together on this.”

  “No interest.” He rearranged two books on reverse engineering of foreign state algorithms.

  Not to be distracted by the scope of variety of his reading collection, she stepped in front of the shelf. “I’m going to help. You might as well be by my side while I do it. Just like I’ve been by your side every time you sent me an SOS for a set of hands.”

  “Not comparable. Virtual versus flesh and blood. Your flesh and blood.”

  “We go where they say, we do what we do. In person. Together.”

  “Shit, Lex, come on. It doesn’t work that way.”

  “I think it could work a lot more in the way I want than you’re giving me credit for.”

  He snatched more books and lined them up straight. “Only way I want you involved is if you’re in a secure room a thousand miles away. Since it doesn’t work like that—”

  “Since it doesn’t work like that, you’re willing to let people die instead?”

  “Fuck!” He threw a book across the room. “Goddamn it. No. Is that what you want to hear? No, I can’t let that happen. But what do you want from me?”

  “For you to be by my side. They, this ARO, keeps trying to take me, right? Every time they try to abduct me, we are together. So we get taken.” His eyes narrowed, and she knew he was thinking it over. Lexi leaned against his chest. “If I have to do this, Parker, hold my hand and make it safe. Please.”

  His body deflated even as he held her tight, breathing deeply against her neck. “I don’t know how to risk someone I’d die if I lost.”

  She pressed her chin to his chest and gazed up. “Don’t bother running numbers if you don’t go with me.” Her lungs ached as she readied to plead for what they had to do. “But if you do go with me, I’ll tell you with one hundred percent accuracy what your programs can’t. We will make it through because I want my life here with you too. I’ve wanted it for far too long, and nothing will stop me from loving you. If our problem was that I couldn’t find it in me to trust myself, then it’s fixed. I trust my gut on this. It’s what we need to do.”

  He squeezed her tight but didn’t agree.

  “Don’t make me break out the Semper Fi on you.” Not that she would throw his honor in his face—she knew his eventual answer would be the right one—but hurrying up his conclusion and decision, yeah, that she had to do.

  Parker’s eyes closed, and he grumbled as though he was in pain before he took a breath. “If we’re going to do this, Titan’s on point. I’ll call Boss Man.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Sandwich shops always drove Parker crazy. They smelled yeasty like baking bread, and he hated to watch his food go down a conveyor belt. It all came down to control, reminding him that he’d rather be in his teched-out lair at Titan or the war room, with the ability to see the plays coming and make adjustments. Today wasn’t like that. It was just him and Lexi with their asses hanging in the wind, waiting and baiting some terrorist motherfucker to whisk them away.

  This setup was his nightmare, even though Titan and military associates had eyes on him. They could almost take over a third-world country with the amount of military know-how that was sitting in that sandwich shop, and still Parker wanted to bundle up his petite, leather-clad biker chick and head home.

  “Don’t you think this is a little obvious?” Lex said, playing on her phone. Whatever game she was into, she was winning, moving up a level, buying tokens and credits and whatever else under her handle, on the phone that they’d tracked her with before.

  “Yeah, obvious is our goal.” Simple plan. He repeated it again and again. Force the ARO to make a grab, embed themselves in their hideout, infiltrate their network, and shut down Monarch. With much more aggression, he jammed buttons on his phone as well.

  “Too obvious, I mean.”

  Lexi’s eyes kept darting to the back corner, where Nicola, Beth, and Sugar, all playing the part of innocent moms-to-be, sat watching the points of entry. Pregnancy hadn’t slowed any of them down, though they had removed themselves from direct action involvement. Still, they were a force to be reckoned with, and he was glad he had those ladies behind him.

  He finished his sandwich and balled up the wrapper, catching Winters at the farthest table by the back hall. He was on his second box of Dots and shooting the shit with the new guys. Everyone in the shop, with the exception of Parker’s table, was relaxed while he and Lex were sitting ducks, waiting to be hunted.

  His skin prickled. For as much as Lexi had been briefed about what would likely happen when they grabbed her, she couldn’t understand the fear she was about to feel. She had been told, had seen videos, had listened to audios… the woman was the most intelligent person he’d ever worked with, but there was something to be said for when shit actually went down. No amount of brain power could squash basic human reaction. He slammed down his phone and took a stabilizing breath.

  “We’ve got something,” Winters murmured into a box of Dots.

  “Roger that,” Sugar confirmed, holding up a onesie. “He’s searching for someone. Dark pants, green jacket. Full beard.”

  The man crossed Parker’s line of sight.

  A sick trickle of concern made his blood run cold. “Last chance, sweetheart. Pull the plug on this. Now.”

  She shook her head. “Nope.”

  He wanted to drag her outside as much as he admired her strength.

  The bearded man stopped at their table, eyes bouncing between them. Discreetly, he showed the butt of a gun. “SilverChaos,” he said to Lexi in his heavy accent. The words were as serious as the threat in his dark eyes. “Your assistance is needed. Come quietly.”

  Lexi’s face went pale, and Parker would’ve died to make how she felt go away. Instead he grabbed her hand.

  “Get up, go out the door.” The man discreetly nudged the weapon inches from her head. “We need to talk about a business proposition. Five minutes, and this will all be done.” He leaned closer.

  From an outside perspective, they were chatting with an old, albeit intense, friend. But Parker’s chest clamored at the point-blank range Lexi was in.

  “Or do you want to kill your boyfriend?” he asked.

  “No,” she quipped.

  “Easy there.” Parker nodded to her. “If you have business with her, sit down and talk.”

  His eyes narrowed on Lexi. “Get up and walk out the door.”

  All Parker had to do was make sure they took him with her. “She’s not going anywhere without me, jackass.”

  “Last chance.”

  “I’ll go if he can come too.” Lexi’s eyes darted between the ARO asshole and him. “Please.”

  The man stared hard as seconds ticked by. Parker’s certainty that this would work began to wane.

  “Please,” Lexi whispered, her voice shaking.

  With the gun still trained on her, the man nodded, relenting. “Both of you, up.”

  Relief at the small victory flooded him. He didn’t want to go to plan B if Lexi was taken alone. They both s
tood, grabbing their phones.

  “Leave them,” the man snapped.

  Lexi whimpered. She was playing a part, following a script. So she was only acting scared… Parker repeated it over and over, except the fear coating her voice sounded so real.

  “Okay.” She met his eyes, left her phone, and turned to their abductor.

  The man roughly guided them toward the exit, passing Winters, who gave him a discreet nod. Titan had eyes everywhere. Even if they stayed far back, they had satellite coverage as well. Parker would keep his mic and earpiece for as long as possible. They just had to get Lexi to a computer where she could work from within their system, manipulate Monarch to appear to work, install untraceable malware, and do it without suspicion. Sure. Easy. Why not. Shit… it was literally one of the most complicated pieces of code to ever have been created. His stomach dropped, and he held her hand tighter than was needed, holding on to what was most precious.

  Like out of a cliché movie, a windowless industrial-looking van raced up, and they were pushed inside the back door. Their abductor jumped in behind them, joining the four occupants already inside. Two were in the back, where the seats had been ripped out, and two up front in the driver and passenger seats. The van filled with Arabic, a huge advantage for them, since Parker had a solid working knowledge of the language. But even if he hadn’t, the heated discussion was easy to decipher.

  Why are there two?

  What do we do with the other one?

  For the moment, Parker wasn’t concerned with staying alive. Everything from their clothes to the way they bickered said no one there was a decision-maker. That was the guy he had a real concern about.

  “Where are you taking us?” Lexi’s gaze bounced around the van. “You said talk. You wanted to talk about business!”

  Black hoods were roughly pulled over their heads. A boot stomped on their handhold.

  “Ow,” Lexi cried.

  “Careful with her, asshole.” Head covered, Parker slammed his head forward, butting the jerk who had hurt her. His swift attack hit with nearly complete accuracy, and he felt the man’s nose crack.