“There’s a phone we can use,” Jackie said over her shoulder.
Water was the first priority. Once they’d drank something he’d call the offices and get a report on everyone else. After that, he didn’t care.
They climbed another set of stairs up past the first floor to the second. Jackie and the woman chatted, their voices soft, the words melodic. They even smiled a time or two, but it didn’t do anything to ease the tension twisting Felix up.
He’d left his team to protect Jackie.
It didn’t change the fact that he’d left.
The guys might be assholes from time to time, but they were also the ones who watched his back and wouldn’t hesitate to save his life.
The lights overhead flickered and then died.
“Jackie?” Felix peered up at the ceiling, waiting for the power to come back on.
Voices drifted toward them from other rooms, the words meaning nothing.
“She said this hasn’t happened before,” Jackie said.
They continued to climb to the second floor, then down to a large, corner room. Water and two trays of food waited for them in the darkness.
“What about the phone?” Felix asked.
Jackie whispered with the girl. He didn’t like the way her hands moved or how long it took to answer what was essentially an easy question.
“She’s got to check on that for us.”
The young woman left, scurrying out and closing the door behind her.
“What the hell, Jackie?” Felix wanted some damn answers. He grabbed a bottle of water and twisted the top off, too thirsty to wait any longer.
Jackie followed his example. Between the two of them they drank a good three bottles each before they slowed down.
“The power went off, and she got scared.” Jackie twisted the top off another bottle and sipped from it. “She said they had phones, but the cell phones were out.”
“This close to the military building they could be running a jammer if they want to keep the PPM forces from communicating easily.” Felix sat on what he thought was a stool. For all he knew it was a table.
“Cut off communication, power, everything that people depend on. Make them afraid and helpless.” She glanced at him. “I’ve seen this before.”
“Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” He braced his hands on his knees. “We see if we can contact the others. Fucking smoke signal for all I care. We get some food. We check our matching head wounds. Then, do we want to head south tonight? Or in the morning?”
“I don’t know. Before today PPM was only active at night.”
“I know.” Felix didn’t want to consider how closely they’d come to getting trapped in that hotel room. If Duke hadn’t left a couple guys at the barricade line, they’d have been caught unaware.
Someone tapped at the door.
Felix stood and crossed to it before Jackie could. He opened it and peered out at the man who’d made the call to hide them in the first place.
“I owe you one.” Felix held out his hand, a universal symbol.
The man peered at his palm for a moment before giving it a firm shake.
“I hope this is the man with the answers.” Felix stepped back, and he came into the room.
Their guest didn’t miss a beat. He looked straight at Jackie and began speaking.
“He says the cell phones and internet haven’t worked since yesterday morning. The news is spotty. Their landline just went dead. Someone down the street claims that PPM has shut down the power plant.”
“Shit,” Felix muttered. “Ask him how long since the planes stopped running?”
Jackie nodded and translated for them.
If Felix was truly cut off like this, he had to make his focus Jackie.
“The planes haven’t taken off or landed since yesterday,” she said.
“Okay, how about a truck or a car? Could we buy one off him? Is anyone headed south or out of the city?” Felix’s preference was to take her out by air or sea, but he hadn’t forgotten Kyle’s statements about pirates floating out there working with the PPM.
“There’s a truck taking supplies out to a refugee camp outside the city. We could ride with them in the morning, maybe get a signal on the outskirts and make a better plan there?” Jackie peered up at him.
“Let’s plan on that.” He squeezed her arm.
Jackie and the man spoke for a moment longer before he saw himself out, leaving the two of them alone.
“Val and the others, they’ll be okay,” Jackie said.
He wasn’t sure if it was for her benefit or his.
“Yeah. They will be.”
“I bet if things got bad Val would head to the closest hospital to...work or hide there.”
“That’s smart of her.” He gestured to the food. “Eat. The water still works, yeah?”
“No one said it didn’t.”
“Then let’s eat, wash up and sleep. This could be the safest we’ll be for a while.” Felix wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep, but he had to try. “It just this room?”
“And the bathroom. Guess we’re bunking together again.”
He should make a joke, but he didn’t have it in him.
If his helmet hadn’t stopped that bullet, he might be dead. There was nothing to stop those same people from firing on the rest of his team. The bullets his helmet had stopped could easily tear through unprotected flesh. And here he was, in a comfortable—clean—room with a prepared meal and cool water to drink.
It wasn’t fair.
Jackie must have sensed his mood. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed tight. For all her words, they were both fighting the dread that the people they cared for like blood might be dead. They could be the only ones still alive.
Was power worth this price? All this blood and destruction?
14.
Sunday. M'Barek Home, Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Another set of lights winked out in the distance. Felix couldn’t sleep, so watching the city heave and roll with conflict was as good a way to pass the time as any. A car alarm started up a block or so away, the horn echoing off the buildings. If he had to guess the looters were out, making the most of the empty homes and businesses in the well-to-do areas.
Where had everyone fled to? Where were the police? What was going to happen next?
He leaned his hip against the windowsill and peered at the street below. This area was quiet, likely thanks to the house patrol keeping a constant eye on things.
Jackie rolled across the mattress behind him and breathed a deep breath. He’d hoped she could at least fall asleep. That one of them could get some rest.
“Anything?” she asked.
“Nothing near us.” He glanced over his shoulder.
With the moonlight shining in it was easy to see her dark hair against the white sheets, her face pillowed on her arm, turned toward him. Damn, but it was a good picture.
He’d been saying something. What was it?
“It looks like the fighting is still in the outer rings of the city.”
“The people that have the most to lose.”
“Yeah.”
Felix turned to face the window before he got any ideas about that bed or the woman in it.
He wished there was something more he could do. Getting Jackie out was one thing, but in the greater scheme it seemed so insignificant. Could her father’s support, and money, go that far? Was she really the key to all this turmoil? He didn’t know. The fact still remained that their primary objective was to get Jackie home so she could say goodbye to her mother.
“Shit.”
“What?” Felix turned.
Jackie sat on the edge of the bed. She’d hand-washed her yoga pants and T-shirt, opting to wear the long, pale colored dress to bed.
He crossed the floor and peered down at her cupped hands.
She lifted her chin and stared at him with wide eyes. Her brow furrowed and her lips parted on words she wasn’t speaking.
“Is that your necklace?” He pinched the delicate chain between his fingers and lifted it out of her grasp. Sure enough, the chain was no longer attached to the clasp.
“When did that happen?”
“You wore out the jump ring is all. It can be fixed.” He held the end of the chain out toward her.
“But, where do I put it? I don’t exactly have pockets.”
“Oh. Well. I’ll hold onto it for you.” He circled to the foot of the bed where he’d laid his gear out to dry. He was out his bag, but there were still enough pockets and zippers on the things he wore he could keep one necklace safe.
“Sorry, it’s just... That was my mom’s. Her mom gave it to her, and her mom gave it to her—that sort of thing.” Jackie blew out a breath.
Son of a bitch.
Jackie still didn’t know. Kyle had told Felix not to say anything. Just because the team was divided didn’t mean the order carried less weight. The longer Jackie went without knowing the more pissed off she was going to be. When she found out, would she be able to forgive them?
He should have thought about that before last night. Before he’d kissed her. Before he’d looked at her as anything except the asset.
Felix spent a moment tugging at his gear, wasting time, gathering his thoughts.
He couldn’t tell her now. They needed to be able to move fast and silent. If she was grieving, there would be tears, sobbing, and it would slow them down.
“Get some sleep.” He pushed to his feet and stared into Jackie’s eyes, so trusting. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
“What about you?” She kept staring up at him with those big, brown eyes.
“I’m not tired yet.” He walked back to the window, putting as much space as the room would allow between them.
The bed creaked.
He grit his teeth.
Her bare feet padding across the tile floor didn’t make a sound, at least not one he could hear over the car alarm still blaring.
The right thing to do was to stay the course, not tell her, get her out of the country, and let her dad take it from there. Felix didn’t have to like his job to do it well. The others had trusted him to get her out, and he’d do it the way Kyle wanted.
Jackie’s hands slid around his waist and she pillowed her cheek on his shoulder, peering around him at the city.
“It’s so different with all the power cut,” she whispered, as though they needed to be quiet.
“Yeah? What’s it normally look like?”
“Not all that different from any other city, I guess. The lights, the noise, it’s all here. I like being out of the city. Seeing the moonlight on the sand.”
“How far are your Dad’s mines from here?” Felix placed his hands on top of hers. He should push her away, not hold her closer.
“It’s almost two hundred miles. I haven’t been to either of the mines in...a long time.”
“Why’s that?”
“Most of the country’s population is clustered here. You don’t go to the mines unless you need to. Dad does a trip once a year to tour both facilities, hand out bonus checks and shake hands.”
“How’d things get so bad between you two?” Felix glanced over his shoulder. Her hair glinted blue in the moonlight.
“It started with the affair. Mom left that night, crying so hard she couldn’t see and had a wreck. I’m guessing Dad wanted to put things back together afterward, so we’d go see her in the hospital. She agreed to come home, and things just...got bad. They fought. She took the pills too often. Dad kept seeing his girlfriend. When Mom left him and the divorce ended the way it did–us not being allowed to spend time with her and absolutely no money in support, I just knew—Dad was not a person who would ever see me as anything but a bargaining chip.”
“He hasn’t done one nice thing?”
“Dad doesn’t do nice to be nice. Everything is a transaction with him. If he’s doing something to be kind, it’s to get credit for something he wants in the future. Which is why I know there are strings attached to him sending you guys in to get me. I’m grateful—to you. Not him.”
“You’re telling me that he’s never done anything just because you’re his daughter?”
“When I was sixteen, he made me sign a contract that if I got a car, I’d stop talking to grandma’s staff about her.”
“Oh, the Spanish speaking kitchen incident?”
“Yeah. I mean, I was never invited over there after that, but I guess she complained enough to him that it was his way of doing something about it.”
“Did you sign it?”
“Hell yes I did. I have stepped foot in that woman’s house exactly three times since then and it was never something I wanted to do.”
“Did you stop talking shit?”
“I signed an agreement I wouldn’t. Doesn’t matter that I was a minor and that makes the whole thing not really legal.” Jackie sighed, her breath warming his shoulder. “Unlike him I do try to keep my word.”
“Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this story?” He turned and leaned against the wall, the moonlight doing soft, glowing things to Jackie’s face.
“I might have told her cook—in English—that she was an old, cranky bitch.” Jackie stared at the ceiling.
“Why would you call her that?”
“She chewed out her sweet, little old gardener because he brought up yellow flowers instead of red ones. Seriously? That’s the level of your problems in this world?”
“That does sound kind of bitchy.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I think.” He cupped her chin and turned her head. She’d washed her hair by herself before he could offer tonight. “How’s it feel?”
“My matching head wound? Okay. Tender, mostly.”
“Need to try to get more bandages.”
“I might like a gnarly scar.”
“You’re probably going to have one. I’d just like a wound that doesn’t get infected.” He stroked his fingers over her cheek.
Her lips curled in a soft smile, and she didn’t glance away once. He could fall into those eyes of hers, drown and never want to come back up for air. She was the kind of woman who inspired people. Made them want to do and be better. Because of her and for her. The knowledge that he was keeping something from her ate at him, poisoning these precious moments.
“We both need to get some sleep,” he whispered.
“Yeah.” She sighed and leaned against him, hugging him closer. “You think everyone else is okay?”
“I choose to believe they’re harder to kill than cockroaches.”
“That’s endearing.”
“It’s the truth. I’ve seen those guys come out of situations that should have killed them and no one has a scratch on ‘em.”
“I hope you’re right.” She studied his face a moment. “I’m glad I met you.”
“Me, too.” He squeezed her a little tighter, then let go. “Get some sleep.”
“You aren’t the boss of me.”
“Maybe I should be. You might get into less trouble.”
“Have you looked in the mirror? You are the guy who got shot in the head, remember?”
“Because you got kidnapped, and I wanted to get you back.”
“It’s all my fault then?”
“I am not answering that. That is a trap.”
“It’s almost sweet that you wanted me back.”
“Well, we get a lower rate if you aren’t rescued.”
“Oh, so now it’s all about getting paid?”
She chuckled and pushed up on her tiptoes. Chasing her down, firing on that truck, it was never about the money. It was about her. Making sure she got to go home that she was safe—that was what mattered.
Felix knew where this was going, and he still didn’t move.
Jackie’s mouth pressed against his, soft and yielding. Hers were the kind of kisses that could fill a whole night. They didn’t have that luxury now. To
night they were safe enough behind these walls, but they couldn’t stay here.
Her hand curled over his shoulder, pulling him closer still.
Maybe one kiss wasn’t such a bad idea.
Felix pushed his fingers through her hair, curling the strands around his hand. She leaned closer still, pulling herself up by his shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her waist then turned, trapping her between him and the wall.
Jackie had knack for getting her way and Felix didn’t intend to fall victim to her too easy smile and alluring kiss. Or at least not by much. She knew her appeal and what she wanted. Under normal circumstances her tenacity might be a bit intimidating. It was hard to live up the expectations a woman like her had. In this moment, there was just what felt right and staying alive.
Her hands slid up under his shirt, stroking his skin. She pushed his shirt up more, her fingers digging into his back. She wanted him, and she had no qualms about making that clear. It was damn refreshing.
“Jackie,” he whispered her name against her lips.
“Hm?” Her nails dug in, just enough bite he hissed.
He groaned, the tendrils of logical thought slipping away from him as her hands continued their glide over his body. She nipped his lower lip, her teeth biting down just hard enough he was pretty sure it would be sore tomorrow. A sensual reminder that not everything was screwed up.
She palmed his aching cock, her hand exploring his length through the material of his pants. Every intention to stop with a few kisses was quickly eroded by the need for this woman.
“Keep kissing me,” she whispered against his mouth.
He slid his hand around the back of her head, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. She tightened her grip on his cock, massaging him despite the separation of fabric.
There were likely great reasons why this should stop, he’d just forgotten them.
She unfastened his pants before he realized what the jangling sound of metal even was. Her hand wrapped around his cock, and the feel of her skin against his was so much better. He took a step closer, needing to be near her, connected. She pumped him, her hand doing a little twist that seemed to shut down all other functions except the need for her.
He kissed her, pouring all his want into it, and slid his hand down from her face to cup her breast. The thin fabric wasn’t much of a barrier. Her stiff nipple practically poked through. He gently tweaked the stiff peak and this time she gasped, a delicious sound he remembered all too well.
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