by Anna Durand
"It's a long flight," he said. "Get some rest."
"Not tired. I only woke up a couple hours ago. If we had a deck of cards, we could play poker."
"You know the game?"
"Don't look so shocked." I prodded his chest. "I beat your cousin Rory at it, and I've been told he's the family expert, unbeatable."
"When did you play poker with Rory?"
"A few months ago, when he brought his wife and kids to Carrefour to visit Keely and Evan. Keely's a poker demon too, but she rarely beats me."
"No one's as clever as you." He studied me with a look of amused fascination. "What are the stakes in these poker games?"
"Food. Candy, usually. Butterscotch is my favorite."
"How many butterscotch candies did you win from Rory?"
I raised my chin like the haughty bitch he'd once thought I was. "I'll have you know, I won a whole package of them. One of those family-size bags, not a piddly little thing."
He braced his head on one raised hand, his arm on the sofa's back. "You surprise me constantly, Serena. It's...refreshing. Not many people can do that to me."
"I don't think I've ever surprised anyone before." I pretended to think hard, squinting my eyes and squishing my lips. "Actually, I surprised Rory when I beat him at candy poker. He's very good at the game."
"Aye, Rory's good." Logan caught the back of my head in his big hand and tugged me closer. "But I'm better."
"You mean at poker?"
"At everything."
We moved into comfy chairs on either side of a small table. A deck of cards lay on the table's highly polished surface. Logan had found a hidden compartment under the sofa that held all sorts of games, from checkers to cards. He insisted we play strip poker, but I reminded him there were other people on board.
"Do you really want the pilots and the flight attendant to see you naked?" I asked.
"No," he replied, "especially since the flight attendant is a man. But it would be you they'd see naked, not me. I'm going to win."
"Overconfident, hmm?" I picked up the deck of cards and shuffled it. "I beat Rory, remember?"
"If I'd ever played with him, I would have beaten him soundly. And for more than candy." He watched me shuffle the deck again. "What are the stakes, mo leannan?"
God, I loved it when he called me his sweetheart. "Let's play for kisses."
"Kisses? That might lead to fucking, ye know."
"Oh darn." I dealt the cards. "The winner gets the first orgasm."
"I'm liking these stakes better than candy or money."
We played for an hour, each of us earning kisses, each kiss more heated than the one before. I beat Logan, though I suspected he'd lost on purpose. And yeah, I got the first orgasm—first of several. After that, we got dressed and watched movies on the built-in big-screen TV, ate a gourmet meal served by Evan's chef, and played another round of poker.
I let Logan win that time.
And after that, we both needed naps.
We arrived in Cairo in the evening, a little after sunset. Just as the plane was landing, Logan received a call from Evan. They talked for thirty seconds at most, which had me wondering what on earth they'd been conferring about. While we exited the jet and tromped down the stairs, I asked Logan about it.
"Evan examined the tracking device." Logan lifted me off the last step by grasping my waist. "He found a way to ping the tracker even if it's turned off. Don't ask me how. He explained, but technology isn't my strong suit. I can use it, but don't expect me to understand it."
"Don't feel bad. I wouldn't understand what Evan said either. That's why he's the tech genius, and we're the grunt workers."
"I love grunting with you."
We drove a rented car, an average-looking, nondescript vehicle that wouldn't stand out like the uber-luxury model Alex had wanted to give us. When he'd told us his plan last evening, before the drinking-alone-in-the-study incident, Logan had told him we needed to blend in, not advertise our presence.
"That's why I hired you," Alex had said. "No one knows how to be sneaky better than you."
It was true. Logan drove—he'd been here before and remembered the layout of the city—while I watched out the windows to get glimpses of Cairo. I would've loved to see the sights, but we weren't here on vacation. Logan needed to hunt down Falk Mullane, and I relished the chance to see him in action. Knowing he'd been a spy was different from experiencing that side of him. We were in a relationship now, so I needed to know all of him.
And I loved that he wanted to show it to me.
Evan had sent Logan an app for his phone that showed us the current location of Falk's tracking device. Logan gave me his phone, saying I would be his navigator. I got a glowy feeling in my chest knowing that he wanted to include me as more than window dressing or a silent passenger. He talked to me while he drove, about nothing important. To keep me relaxed, I realized. Not knowing what we might be walking into had me on edge.
Not because I felt endangered. As long as I was with Logan, I knew nothing bad would happen to me. I had a normal amount of fear, of course, unlike the apparently fearless Alex. But I trusted Logan to watch out for our safety, mine and his. Mostly, I was excited. We were on a spy mission. Together.
The blinking green dot hadn't moved since we'd first activated the app.
While Logan steered the car around a corner, I asked, "Is it a bad sign that the dot hasn't moved?"
"Not necessarily. Mullane could be sleeping."
"This early in the evening? It's barely past seven."
"Maybe he's exhausted from pinching antiquities and selling them to illicit collectors."
The green dot on the screen flashed red for a second. Two words appeared onscreen: "Tracker active."
"What does this mean?" I asked as I tilted the screen so Logan could see.
He glanced at it and frowned. "That's not good."
Yanking the steering wheel, he swerved over to the side of the street to park.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Logan took the phone. "Someone turned on the tracker."
"It couldn't have come on by itself? Like it had a weak signal and now it's getting a strong one again?"
"Since the tracker hasn't moved, that wouldn't make sense. Besides, Evan told me the device couldn't be turned off, it could only be disabled permanently. For it to come on again..."
"That's bad. Really bad."
"Aye." He squinted at the screen. "This might be a trap."
Before I could express my confusion, he dialed a number on his phone and held it to his ear.
"Are you calling Evan or Alex?" I asked.
He held up a finger to silence me.
I watched him and waited.
"Evan," he said, "can the tracker turn itself back on spontaneously? That's what I thought. Are you sure? Thank you." He disconnected the call. "It's what I thought. The device must've been shielded so it wouldn't be able to send a signal. That's a purposeful act, not a fluke. Evan says someone was blocking the signal, and now they've let it through again."
"To trap us."
He nodded, looking very unhappy with the situation. "I'm taking you to a hotel, then I'll find Mullane."
"No. I'm with you all the way."
"Serena—"
"That was the deal. We do this together."
"It's too dangerous. I won't put you at risk."
"So don't." I grasped his face with both hands. "I trust you, Logan. And I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. Before I became an executive assistant, I was a nurse. If you get injured, I can patch you up. You need me."
He glowered at the steering wheel, clenching it with both hands. "Fine. You're coming with me, but you do exactly as I say. Understood?"
"Yes, sir, secret agent man."
"This is not a game."
"I know, and I'll do what you say, unless I have no choice but to do something else instead."
"Agr
eed." He steered the car back onto the street. "I'm glad you wore jeans and walking shoes. If you need to run, you're dressed for it. If anything should happen to me, head for the US embassy."
My mouth went dry. He was worried, more than I'd realized until this moment. But I couldn't leave him to walk into possible danger alone, not knowing if he would live or die. I wasn't there when Rob died. At least this time, I would be at Logan's side if anything did happen. I would know exactly what went down and why he was taken from me.
I shut my eyes and said a prayer. Keep Logan safe. Please, God, don't take him away from me too.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Logan
It was fully dark by the time we found the location of the tracker's ping. I tried again to talk Serena into going to a hotel, but she refused to do it. Maybe I should have pushed harder, driven her to a hotel and locked her in the room, but I couldn't make myself do it. She wanted to stay with me. I understood she was worried about what might happen, and she had good reason to worry after the way she'd lost her husband. Maybe I should've pointed out she had a son at home, and she shouldn't put herself at risk. But I couldn't make myself do that either.
Whether it was reckless and irresponsible or not, I let her come with me. I wanted her with me. No woman had ever asked to accompany me on a mission.
Serena wasn't an average woman. She was...extraordinary.
The location turned out to be a small, dilapidated warehouse on the outskirts of Cairo, situated barely off the Nile flood plain. Of course, the Nile didn't flood like it used to before the construction of the Aswan High Dam.
Aye, a dam was what I should be thinking about right now.
I drove past the warehouse, not even pulling into the driveway, and circled back around on narrow streets until I found a good place to hide our vehicle.
"We'll need to walk," I said. "About two blocks, that's all. But we have to be quiet and inconspicuous."
"No whooping or shooting off fireworks. Check."
"This is serious, Serena."
She squeezed my hand. "I know. Inappropriate humor is how I'm dealing with the fact I'm terrified."
"You're not terrified, you're excited. Which is worse."
"Don't worry, Logan. I'll follow your lead. I trust your instincts and your expertise with this spy stuff. I trust you, period."
She trusted me. She would listen to me.
I looked into her eyes, and pressure gripped my heart. Not a bad feeling. A strange and unprecedented feeling that my life had changed more than I'd realized until this moment.
Serena got out of the car first, and I followed, heading for the trunk. Our bags were inside. I retrieved the item I needed and showed it to her.
"That's a gun," she said. "Is the situation that bad?"
"I hope not, but I believe in being prepared."
"Where did you get a semiautomatic handgun?"
"Alex gave it to me last night. I didn't bring my own weapon, since I had no idea how serious the situation was." I ejected the magazine and checked it was full, then snapped it back in. "Naturally, Alex neglected to mention a few things. Like the fact Falk Mullane has a record and has underworld connections."
I strapped on the shoulder holster Alex had also given me. Why an archaeologist needed a gun and a shoulder holster should've confused me, but knowing Alex, I hadn't been surprised at all. The man had a tendency to get himself into trouble.
"Do you know how to use a gun?" I asked Serena.
"Yes. Rob taught me how to fire and clean a semiautomatic pistol. I still have his service weapon, though I haven't used it since he passed away. But I remember everything he taught me."
"Good." I grabbed another item from my bag.
"Zip ties?" Serena said. "What are those for?"
"Restraint." I stuffed the bundle of zip ties into my pocket and brought out the last item I needed, a flat rectangular box the size of my palm that resembled a tablet computer. "This is a thermal imaging device, created and patented by Evan. It will let us see into the warehouse before we go inside and tell us how many live bodies are in there."
"Live bodies? You mean people."
"Could be animals too."
"Oh. Right."
Stowing the thermal imaging device in my shirt pocket, I shut the trunk and took Serena's hand. We slunk down the dark road toward the warehouse. My eyes adjusted to the darkness as we moved, so by the time we reached the warehouse, I could see well enough. The half-moon glowing above us helped too. We dropped into a crouch as we turned onto the driveway, where tall reeds lined one side, giving us decent cover.
We stopped halfway up the drive and huddled there.
I brought out the thermal imager, switching it on. The screen managed to be readable while giving off very little light. Only viewing the screen head-on could I see the image on it. I had no idea how Evan managed that, but then, he was a billionaire for a very good reason. The man was a genius.
And according to Serena, my best friend.
Thinking about that would have to wait until later. I needed to focus on the little screen displaying heat signatures as multicolored shapes. I moved the tablet slowly, panning over the warehouse, counting the bodies and noting where they were.
Serena pressed her mouth to my ear and whispered, "How many?"
I held up five fingers.
We continued toward the building in a crouch. I would've preferred to belly-crawl, but I wouldn't do that with Serena here. Not that I was sorry she'd come. Having her with me felt...right. If I'd asked her to belly-crawl with me, she would've done it, but I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her as easily if we did that.
Ten meters from the warehouse, I stopped us again and checked the thermal imager. Still five bodies. One of them was probably Falk Mullane, which left four hostiles. Assuming Mullane wasn't a hostile. Maybe he was, considering he'd tried to blackmail Alex. I couldn't assume he wanted to be rescued, when he might have joined forces with whoever else hid inside the warehouse.
From this distance, I could see more details on the building. Most of the windows were smashed or missing altogether. Where a set of large doors had once been, there was a gaping maw of darkness. One of the old doors lay on the ground a couple dozen meters away, like it had been thoughtlessly discarded when the owners abandoned the place.
I didn't like this at all.
An abandoned building. In the middle of nothing. Four hostiles and one unknown quantity holed up inside it. Mullane had a criminal record—petty stuff, but still a record—so I had to assume he was in there with other criminals, possibly ones more dangerous than he was.
Keeping Serena behind me, and her hand in mine, I crept toward the building and sidled along its wall until we reached the gaping maw that had once been a doorway.
I glanced at Serena.
She nodded.
We tiptoed through the massive doorway into the unknown.
The thermal imager had shown targets to the right. I could make out a hallway in that direction. I turned down the hall, keeping my back to the wall. Serena did the same as she gripped my hand more firmly. I gave her hand a light squeeze, my attempt to reassure her. I had no idea what we might find, but I didn't want her terrified. Alert and aware, that was the right mindset. I had no doubts she could manage it.
Our shoes made no sound on the concrete floor.
Voices drifted to us from further down the hall. I couldn't make out the words, but I had the impression they weren't speaking English. As we neared the source of the voices, I noticed a room at the end of the hall, directly in front of us. It either had no door or the door was open all the way. The room inside was gloomy, with only ambient light from a window to illuminate it.
I pulled out the gun Alex had given me.
Serena stuck close behind me, her body almost plastered to mine, as we edged closer and closer to the doorway.
The voices grew louder, and I paused to listen. They alternat
ed between Russian and English, as if they were explaining what they'd said to someone who didn't know Russian. Another voice occasionally spoke Arabic. I couldn't quite make out the words, but I recognized the accent and the cadence of each language.
Enough waiting for these bastards to reveal themselves.
I slipped the gun into Serena's hand.
She didn't balk, didn't react at all other than to close her hand around it.
Wonderful lass.
I took a slow, deep breath.
And I charged into the room.
Chapter Thirty
Serena
Logan bolted into the darkened room like an avenging angel, though he had no divine powers to protect him. He'd given me the gun, which meant he was unarmed. Why bring a gun if he wasn't going to use it? The truth hit me as Logan rammed into a shadowy figure inside the room, seemingly in slow motion, though I knew it was adrenaline altering my perception of time.
He was trusting me to not do something stupid. And to realize he didn't need a weapon to take down bad guys. He was also trusting me to know when he might need the gun and to give it to him at the right moment.
Logan trusted me. And I trusted him.
Inside the room, Logan tackled a man to the floor and punched him three times, until the man stopped fighting.
Another figure separated from the shadows and headed straight for Logan. Though Logan had jumped to his feet, he was facing away from the onrushing attacker.
"Behind you!" I shouted from the doorway, where I hugged the jamb.
Logan spun around and dealt with the attacker, knocking him out with two swift punches and a wicked blow to the groin delivered by his knee.
Peripherally, I noticed something on the opposite side of the doorway, close to the jamb. Could it be a light switch? Did this place have electricity? Would more light help or hurt Logan?
Another figure rushed at him, landing a nasty wallop to his gut before he had time to react. Logan doubled over and stumbled backward. He recovered from the blow quickly, but not quick enough. His new attacker grabbed something off the floor, a pipe or a length of wood, and swung it back as if preparing to strike.
