Medusa's Sheik

by Cindy Dees

  Chapter 16

  C asey listened in dismay as Vanessa went over the details of her latest conversation with Geoffrey Birch. The terrorists had contacted him and were pushing to complete the sale immediately. Vanessa had advised the attorney to agree to the terrorists’ terms. The transfer of funds would happen later today. Their teammates at H.O.T. Watch headquarters had a few hours to track the source of the monies and catch the terrorists that way. However, everyone agreed that the odds of the terrorists slipping up and making a mistake in hiding their money trail were extremely small.

  Plan B was to go ahead with the transfer of the milling machine.

  Tonight.

  Casey’s heart about fell out of her chest at that news. She and Hake were out of time. Worse, she wasn’t mentally prepared for him to be exposed to danger. But unfortunately, the first condition the terrorists had set for the transfer of the machine was that Hake personally deliver it.

  As H.O.T. Watch had anticipated, the terrorists expected to move the machine by sea, and they demanded that Hake drive it in a truck to an exact location they would give him later. The rendezvous point could lie anywhere along the coast of Bhoukar, which meant the Medusas would not have long tonight to scout out the meeting locale and get a team in place to protect Hake. For surely the terrorists expected to kill him once he’d delivered the goods. He’d had the gall to survive both of their earlier attempts to kill him; it would be a point of honor not to let him live out the night.

  Once the hostiles had the machine, they would no doubt sail for the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden and the wild and wooly coast of east Africa where it would be easy for them to slip ashore and disappear with their prize.

  “What about sabotaging the milling machine?” Casey asked, desperate to delay the handoff. “Is that done?”

  Vanessa nodded. “Marat’s engineers say it is. I’d like Naraya to take a look at their work herself and verify it, however.”

  The engineer on their team nodded briskly.

  Vanessa diagrammed a rough plan of deployment. “We’ll all ride in the truck with the machine, jump out as close to the meet as we can and work our way in on foot.”

  Roxi asked, “Is the Bhoukari Army going to insist on being there?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “Our president and the Bhoukari emir share an extraordinarily close friendship, and the president has asked him, as a favor, to leave this operation entirely to us. Which is to say, the whole mission’s on our shoulders, ladies.”

  Casey looked around the room. She couldn’t think of a dozen other people in the entire world she’d rather have this mission depending upon. Forged in blood, sweat and tears, the Medusas had become a single, finely honed weapon, a seamless killing machine. They were tough, experienced and confident. Everything would go smoothly tonight.

  Then why were her hands shaking and her innards threatening open revolt at any second? Hake. That was why. He was going to be out there, exposed to the very people who’d tried twice now to kill him.

  “Casey, I want you on Hake.”

  She jerked at hearing her name and stared at her boss in surprise as Vanessa continued, “The terrorists know you. They think you’re a bimbo—no offense intended—”

  “None taken,” Casey murmured.

  “And we can use that to our advantage,” Vanessa added. “They won’t know why Hake brought you along and they won’t like it, but they won’t be worried by you. You did an excellent job getting yourself portrayed by the press as a harmless party girl.”

  Casey grimaced. “Gee. Thanks.”

  As chuckles passed around the table, Vanessa continued, “You’ll need to find some sort of clothing that doesn’t make you look like a professional bodyguard.”

  Casey nodded. “I’m sure someone around here can help me with that. What about Tomas and crew?”

  “I don’t want civilians in our field of fire, no matter how good they are,” Vanessa replied briskly. “I’m assigning them to guard our retreat if things go bad. They’ll lay down a volley of covering fire and open up an escape corridor if we need one.”

  Monica spoke up, “What if the terrorists get the machine onto their vessel and make it out of port?”

  “That’s actually the idea,” Vanessa replied. “As soon as they cross into international waters, the U.S. Navy will be waiting for them. We already have a submarine, a destroyer and three SEAL teams tasked to take these guys. They’re loitering off the coast now and are under orders to sink the ship and make our terrorists disappear permanently. Ideally, they’ll take a few prisoners for long-term interrogation, but the priority is to kill the ship. Our job is merely to drive the terrorists into their grasp.”

  Casey asked the obvious next question, “And if the terrorists stay in Bhoukari waters and don’t go international?”

  Vanessa grinned. “The emir assures us that it’s very difficult for his navy to tell where invisible boundary lines in the water lie and he’s quite fuzzy on the subject himself.”

  Vanessa spent the next half hour going over the operational plan for the handoff in excruciating detail. The whole plan centered around showing Hake to the terrorists as briefly as possible and then getting him the heck out of there before anyone could kill him.

  Easy as pie. Then why was Casey’s gut twisted into so many knots that she could hardly breathe?

  Vanessa wrapped up with, “And while we wait for the call to come in, Mr. and Mrs. El Aran have invited us all to dine with them this evening. They’re fine with our BDUs, but no weapons at the dinner table, please.”

  Casey gulped…and then prayed furiously that Hake took her advice and didn’t make a scene about her tonight.

  As the Medusas piled out of the briefing room and followed Vanessa to a massive dining room that already held nearly fifty people, apparently all of Hake’s extended family, Casey made a point of blending into the middle of the pack of women soldiers.

  She spotted Hake the instant the Medusas stepped into the banquet hall. He was standing beside an older version of himself—that must be his father. And the elegant woman with them must be his mother. Even his parents were perfect and intimidating. But then Mr. El Aran smiled and welcomed them all so pleasantly that Casey’s shoulders actually began to unhunch from around her ears. Mrs. El Aran, who spoke English with a light Italian accent, waved for them all to be seated and for the meal to be served. The crowd moved toward a giant table spanning the length of the room.

  Mrs. El Aran gestured for Vanessa to sit beside her, and Casey was intensely relieved that her boss got diplomatic babysitting duty tonight.

  But then Mr. El Aran’s voice rang out clearly before Casey could slip into a nicely anonymous seat at the other end of the long table. “Which one of you is the dancer? The one who’s been in all the tabloids with my son.”

  Oh, Lord. Her teammates flashed her sympathetic glances as Casey reluctantly stepped out of their protective midst. Hake’s back was ramrod stiff and his jaw seemed about ready to shatter, he was so furious. This was going to turn ugly very fast and very soon.

  She forced her feet to carry her toward Hake and his parents. Vanessa looked like a thundercloud beside them. She silently blessed her boss for taking offense at her reputation being questioned in any way. If only she deserved Vanessa’s indignation. But she’d crossed the line with Hake, and no amount of scrambling now was going to change that.

  Casey cleared her throat. “I would be the dancer, sir.”

  “Come closer. I want to speak with you, young lady.”

  Sighing, she calculated the odds of making it to the exit before one of her teammates tackled her and bodily dragged her to face Papa El Aran. Zilch. Maybe when his father was done with her, Hake would finally catch a clue and realize just how unsuited for his life she was.

  In the meantime, she was a Medusa. She groveled for no man. Her heart might be breaking, but that didn’t mean she was beaten. She lifted her chin and strode forward to face the music. The one thin
g she dared not do was look at Hake. She’d fall apart if she so much as glanced over at him.

  Vanessa caught her gaze ever so briefly, and Casey thought she saw support and encouragement from her boss. Casey neared Hake and his parents, and she glued her attention on his father. The man was studying her intently, as if he were searching for something. “This is the same beauty I’ve seen splashed all over the newspapers?” he asked incredulously.

  Casey blinked. “I beg your pardon, sir?”

  “Remarkable. In this attire, you look just like the other lady soldiers. And you’re the one who saved his life in that nightclub in London?”

  Casey shrugged. “I shoved him under a table. Whether that saved his life or not, I couldn’t say.”

  Hake interrupted. “Don’t be modest, Casey.” He turned to his father. “She threw herself on top of me to protect me. And she tackled me again yesterday with no regard for her own safety when the mines exploded at the polo field.”

  Mrs. El Aran startled Casey by stepping forward then and wrapping Casey, BDUs and all, in a hug. “Thank you so much for saving my son’s life. How can we ever thank you?”

  “No thanks are necessary,” Casey mumbled. “I was just doing my job.”

  “Nonsense,” Marat declared. “We are forever in your debt.”

  “In that case—” Hake started.

  Casey cut him off with a glare. She turned to his mother and registered the woman looking back and forth between her and Hake in dawning amusement. Casey said politely, “In that case, Mr. and Mrs. El Aran, let’s enjoy a pleasant dinner and you can tell me all about what a naughty child Hake was. After working with him for the past few weeks, I have no doubt he was a handful.”

  Mrs. El Aran laughed and commenced regaling Casey with stories of Hake’s adventurous youth. Hake, who was seated across the table, rolled his eyes and put up with it, but clearly he was impatient with her. Too bad. Until the two of them had some idea of what was going on between them, the last thing they needed to do was involve his family. She was right, and he could just get over it.

  Several times he tried to steer the conversation back to his relationship with Casey, and each time, Casey headed him off, smoothly turning the conversation to some other subject. And each time she did it, Hake’s jaw clenched harder. She blandly ignored him as he stewed. If she wasn’t mistaken, Mama El Aran’s amusement was growing by the minute at Hake getting managed by a woman like this.

  The food was delicious and the company pleasant, and no more was said of her and Hake’s antics in France. But when the formal meal adjourned and everyone milled around chatting, Hake moved to her side and gripped her elbow tightly. He leaned down to growl in her ear, “My room. Ten minutes.”

  He strode out then, and she didn’t watch him go. Really. She wasn’t a silly teenager to engage in a secret rendezvous like this. However, almost ten minutes later, she asked one of Hake’s sisters where a restroom was and the woman offered to show it to her. Casey smiled and accepted the guide.

  The two women stepped out into the grand hallway and Hake’s sister murmured, “Take this elevator to the third floor and turn right when the door opens. Go all the way to the end, and it’s on the left.”

  Casey stared.

  “Go on,” the woman murmured, smiling. “It’s high time my brother found himself a woman who can stand up to him like you do. I haven’t seen my parents so delighted in years. Good luck and go with the family’s blessing.”

  The elevator doors closed and Casey stood there in shock. The family approved of her? The belly-dancing commando? No way. She felt like a high-wire performer who’d just had the net pulled out from underneath her in the middle of her show. She’d been so sure his family wouldn’t tolerate her anywhere near Hake. Now what was she supposed to do?

  Before she hardly knew what was happening, she was standing in front of Hake’s bedroom door. What came next? She had no idea. But she did know one thing: she was a Medusa. And Medusas faced their fears head-on. She took a deep breath and pushed open his door.

  As she walked in, Hake turned from where he stood by the bedroom window. She spoke sharply, “Unless that’s bullet-resistant glass, you should get away from there. And even then, it’s not good policy to expose yourself to a sniper. Sometimes they have gear that will punch through the best bullet-resistant materials.”

  “How do you soldiers say it…you can stand down now?”

  “That’s how we say it, but I’m not about to stand down. Your safety is my number one concern.”

  He strode forward, irritated. “Is that what you were doing at dinner? Protecting me? It was the perfect opportunity to tell my father about us. He was inclined to be generous with you and grant you a favor, and you wouldn’t let me say a thing!”

  “It was not the right time or place,” she declared flatly.

  “I am not accustomed to being told what to do,” he snapped.

  She laughed. “Then it must suck being around me and my teammates. Particularly when your life depends on following our orders.”

  He glared at her for a moment more, but then his irritation broke. He sighed. “I just don’t like hiding my feelings for you like this.” He commenced pacing, but well back from the wall of windows.

  She leaned a hip on his desk. “I don’t see anyone we need to hide from right now. Are there surveillance cameras in here I should know about?”

  “Heavens, no. The family’s private quarters would never be watched.”

  “Then relax already,” she said softly. “You don’t have to hide anything from me.”

  He stopped and stared at her. “I don’t, do I?”

  Their gazes met. A realization of just how far they’d come unfolded between them. Nervous, she murmured, “I have to brief you on the mission.”

  “The mission. It’s always the mission with you. When are you going to admit to yourself that you’re hiding behind all this soldiering stuff?”

  She retorted, “When are you going to realize that a soldier is who I am?”

  “I am a banker, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a man, too. It doesn’t mean I can’t have a personal life.”

  “My work is different,” she declared.

  “Only if you let it be. You’ve chosen to let it consume your life. To let it consume your identity and your femininity.”

  She glared at him and he glared back. Finally, she stated flatly, “We don’t have time for this right now. I have to tell you about the mission.” Ignoring his obvious frustration, she launched into a recitation of the plan as it currently stood.

  He crossed his arms, plastered on an impassive look and listened.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” she added. “If they hit me, you have to let them.”

  That got a reaction out of him. A snort of contempt.

  “I’m serious, Hake. These guys think women are worthless, and you need to appear to believe the same.”

  “Not happening. Nobody hits my woman and gets away with it.”

  A thrill shot through her that brought her up short. Okay, she was not supposed to get all fluttery over being protected by some man. But still…it felt good that he was protective of her like that. It took a moment for her to collect herself enough to say calmly, “Regardless, you must let them. My life will depend on it and yours, too. They have to believe I’m not important. That I can be ignored.”

  That garnered another snort from him. “I keep telling you. You’re impossible to ignore. When will you get that through your head?”

  Another thrill rippled through her. She couldn’t think about that right now! Right now, she was a soldier. Not a woman. Why couldn’t he see that?

  “I have to go check my weapons and scare up some clothes for myself,” she said grimly. “I’ll be back to collect you when the terrorists call. In the meantime, you should try to get some rest. It could be a long night.”

  Roxi looked up sharply at her when she stomped into their impromptu command center. “You all right, Scorpion?
”

  Casey scowled. She was emphatically not all right. Hake’s insistence on reminding her that she was a sexy, desirable woman was distracting in the extreme. “I’ll live,” she grumbled.

  “H.O.T. Watch sent us satellite imagery of the terrain along the coast. You might want to familiarize yourself with it,” Roxi said neutrally.

  Right. Terrain. She spent the next two hours going through the motions of final mission preparation, but she wasn’t at all sure how much of it actually stuck in her head. Hopefully enough. The good news was that the rest of the Medusas would be with her and Hake. She felt perfectly safe in their care.

  The call came in at midnight. Hake was to drive the large flatbed truck bearing the milling machine by a specified route to the coastal highway, departing within the next ten minutes, or the transfer was off.

  Casey dialed Hake’s cell phone. He picked up on the second ring. “It’s me,” she said briskly. “Time to rock and roll. We need to leave immediately.”

  “I’m on my way,” he replied tersely.

  She winced as she hung up. He sounded none too pleased with her. She supposed she couldn’t blame him, but there was nothing she could do about it. She knew the mental, physical and emotional demands of a mission and he didn’t. But he was about to learn.

  Chapter 17

  H ake stared in shock as Casey climbed up into the cab of the semitruck beside him. “What in the hell are you wearing?”

  She was swathed in black, voluminous robes, her head covered by a matching black scarf that came down low on her forehead. Missing only was the draped scarf across her face. It was a shock to see her like that.

  She replied, “Surely you recognize traditional Bhoukari dress. We left my face uncovered so the terrorists would recognize me. But I need the robes to cover my weapons. Remember, try to find a way to send me back to the truck after they’ve searched me, so I can fetch my toys.”