“Well, that’s good, because I’ve never been wrong,” she said, confidence blooming in her eyes once again.
Eva was still asleep, and Luke had no intention of waking her, not with his men a few minutes from infiltrating the home where Malik’s wife and daughter were hopefully being held.
“Asher says they’re five minutes out,” Owen reported.
“Let’s hope his family is alive for him to FaceTime with, and that this isn’t a trap.” Jessica’s fists bore down atop the desk as they all waited with bated breath.
“Where’s Harper? I thought she’d be here by now,” Luke asked.
“Shit.” Jessica checked the time. “She should be here by now.”
Luke looked to Liam. “Get her on the phone. Make sure she’s okay.” He strode to the window and parted the blinds, watching the sun rise above the sea.
“Her phone’s not connecting,” Liam said a minute later, and his words had Luke pivoting to face him. “I called the CIA safe house, too. No answer.”
“When was the last time we heard from her?” Luke asked his sister.
“An hour ago when she said she was leaving to come here,” Jessica answered.
“It’s only a twenty-minute drive.” Worry climbed up into his throat. “Liam.”
Liam grabbed his Sig off the table. “On it.”
“They’re in position,” Owen said, grabbing Luke’s attention after Liam had left the room.
“It’s a go,” Luke commanded and crossed his arms as he waited—as the entire room waited—to see what the hell would happen.
He hated being behind the scenes, but he knew he couldn’t control everything, and he trusted his men to get the job done.
But still, it never felt right putting any of his people on the line if his own life wasn’t on the line right there with them.
A knock at the door sent a chill down his spine, and he hoped it was Harper, but surely Liam would’ve run into her on the way down to the lobby, which meant it was either Eva, or Knox and Asher with Malik.
“It’s me,” Eva announced.
He opened the door, and she stared at him with her big hazel eyes, so full of life and a million other things he couldn’t quite place right now.
“I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been tossing and turning for hours. Is there news?”
“Come in.” He stepped back so she could walk in, but before he closed the door, he heard the chime of the elevators. “Just in time,” he said when he saw his guys with Malik.
Dark bags were beneath Malik’s eyes, and his brow was damp with sweat. No twitch of the eyes, though—no bluffing. “Have they found my wife and daughter yet?”
“We’re hoping they’re about to,” Luke said and closed the door, still unable to look Asher and Knox in the eyes. He’d forgiven Jessica for allowing Eva to put herself in the line of fire, so why was he still so pissed at his friends?
Maybe it was because he couldn’t get the memory of them pulling him off of her out of his mind. They clearly didn’t understand what it was like to care about a woman so much.
But, he’d made sure of that with his rules, hadn’t he? He’d all but created a team of men who were only capable of meaningless relationships and one-night stands. Had he been wrong?
No, it’s to keep everyone safe . . .
A tightness in his chest had him gripping his hand over his heart. “What’s the status?”
Malik remained standing with clenched fists at his sides, overlooking Owen’s computer at the desk.
“They confirmed it’s the house, but then I lost contact. Someone opened fire, and I’m not sure if it was our guys or not.” Owen steepled his fingers beneath his chin and stared at the open call with the team.
Static. Shouts in Turkish. And more rounds pelting the air.
A voice buzzed through the pops of noise: “He’s at your nine o’clock.” And then a half-dozen bangs ripped through the line.
Luke wasn’t sure if any of Ender’s men would make it out alive, but as long as his guys did, he was fine with that.
“No sight of the hostages, but there’s a locked basement,” Eddie, from Scott & Scott Securities, announced once the bullets ceased.
“Are you all okay?” Jessica asked.
“All good on our end, boss,” Eddie said.
“Baba!” A voice shrieked out the word for father in Turkish a minute later. “Baba?”
Malik fell to his knees and covered his face at the sound of his daughter’s voice over the speaker.
“They’re okay,” Eddie said. “What do you want me to do now?”
“There’s a location I want you to take them to for today.” Luke gave him the address to the home he’d stayed at with Eva in the Poconos only last weekend—days that felt like an eternity ago.
“Can I talk to them?” Malik pushed upright, and Luke nodded the okay to Owen.
Malik stood before the computer and spoke in Turkish to his family. Luke only caught about every other word, but most of it was apologies for his brother and nephew.
Luke glanced at Eva. She swiped tears from her cheeks and regarded him with heavy-lidded eyes.
“You promise to keep my family safe? I don’t care what you do with me, but them—”
“You have my word,” Luke said, hoping to hell Will didn’t snap his word in half later that day.
“Then we go back to where we were last night. The safe is hidden there,” Malik said.
“Knox, stay with Eva,” Luke said.
“I’d like to come.” She lifted her long, wet lashes, killing him with her beautiful eyes.
“I’m sorry. I need you to stay here.” He swallowed the distance between them in two quick strides and palmed her cheek, forgetting about everyone in the room, and brushed his thumb over her warm skin. “This is almost over.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“The safe house is locked. No response,” Liam told Luke over the phone, as the SUV rolled to a stop in the driveway of Malik’s home. “I did a perimeter sweep. No one is here.”
“Did you see any cars off the road on your way there?” Luke leaned against his car and placed the call on speaker so his sister and Asher could hear. The rest of the crew was inside Malik’s home, waiting to open the safe.
“Off the road pretty much equates to winding up in the French Riviera,” Liam said dryly. “I’ll retrace all possible routes, though.”
“Touch base with Knox and update him. If someone got ahold of Harper, they could be coming to the hotel next.”
He should’ve left more than one guard with Eva. He looked to Asher and said, “Head to the hotel. Grab two of our guys from inside the house and bring them with you.”
“Sure thing,” Asher said.
“Liam, I’m going to send someone to meet up with you also,” Luke said. “I’ll have them phone you for a location once they’re on the road.”
Jessica cursed under her breath and crossed her arms, looking off at the sea behind Malik’s home.
“Hurry,” Luke said to Asher and ended the call.
A bad feeling twisted in his gut, and maybe it was because he was afraid if something did happen to Eva this time, he wouldn’t be able to save her. But he couldn’t allow himself to think like that. He also didn’t know for certain that something had happened to Harper.
“How much time do we have until Will’s flight lands?” Luke asked his sister as they walked toward the house to meet up with everyone inside.
“Two hours,” she said. “At least we’ll have the safe when he’s here.”
“But trying to explain to him why we don’t want him to hand the contents over to the CIA until we know if someone was working with Reggie will be tough for him to digest,” Luke noted.
“Right,” she said as they walked through the front door.
Malik approached Luke and Jessica, his face muscles more relaxed now that he knew his family was safe. “You ready?”
Luke nodded.
“Then, let’s go.” Malik motioned for Jessi
ca and Luke to follow him.
They walked to the end of a hallway and stopped before the last door. Malik tapped at a keypad and entered a code.
Nothing was inside the room but a bookshelf. Malik thumbed the spines before pulling the fourth book on the fourth shelf down. The walls parted, which led them to another empty room.
“You have your code, right?” Malik asked as they approached what appeared to be a closet door with a keypad on it.
Luke arched a brow, silently saying, are you kidding?
“Enter your code at the exact same time as I enter mine.”
“If I’m off, will this thing really explode?”
“No. My brother told that to your government to try and buy him some time when he realized he’d been lied to.”
Of course.
“Now,” Malik commanded.
Luke tapped at the keys, and a second later, the door clicked, and Malik pushed it open.
Luke stepped inside the small room the size of a decent-sized walk-in closet. Documents and photos were taped to every inch of the walls, and he nearly tripped over boxes in the center of the room.
“My brother was old school. He didn’t keep any electronic records. These files go back to before the fall of the Berlin Wall. We’re talking over thirty years. He said he kept moving the intel from place to place over the years to keep anyone from finding it.”
Luke scratched at the base of his throat. “We need to get everything off the walls and packed up—and fast. Can you handle it? I want to call Liam back and check on Eva.”
Jessica placed her hand on his shoulder. “You have a bad feeling?”
“Yeah,” he said as calmly as possible.
“Okay. We’ll get this done.”
Malik followed him out of the safe and caught up with him. “What will happen to me?”
Luke halted to face him. “I believe you were trying to do the right thing, but it won’t be up to me to decide your fate. But I’ll put in a good word for you.”
“Thank you. I’m so grateful you were the man chosen for this job. I can’t ever thank you enough for saving my family.”
Luke nodded, not sure what else to say, then went outside to make his call, desperate to hear the sound of Eva’s voice, but before he could phone her, his cell began buzzing.
It was Liam. “Harper’s been shot,” he said straight away. “I found her body near an abandoned car. She was left for dead, but she’s still got a pulse.”
He dropped his head.
“I’m in the back of an ambulance with her right now. Tell our guys to get to the hotel.”
“Already on it. They should be there any minute. Let me call and warn them. Did she get a chance to say anything to you?”
“No. She’s lucky to even be alive. I just hope she stays alive.”
“’Kay. Let me—” Another call was coming in. “That’s Knox.” He switched lines before Liam had a chance to respond. “You may be in trouble.”
“I’m so sorry,” Knox said quickly, his breathing labored.
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s gone. Eva’s fucking gone.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Five minutes earlier
“I take back what I said.” Knox lifted his shades and found Eva’s eyes.
She lowered her coffee mug to the terrace table. “What are you talking about?”
“I told you to forget about whatever happened between you and Luke.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“You’ve changed him. In a good way, I mean. He’s always been rough around the edges, but aside from his team, he never made room for anyone else in his life.” He smiled and slipped his sunglasses back in place.
“Yeah, you mentioned the rules.” A lump started to claim her throat, emotions punctuating each second that lapsed until he talked again.
“But man, you should’ve seen him when you got into Malik’s car. Hell, he clobbered Asher and me. He was ready to kill us.”
“Sorry about that.” She rubbed her hands against her thighs, hoping to slow her pitter-pattering heart.
“I think the man is falling in love with you.”
“What? He doesn’t love me. We don’t love each other, I mean. We’ve known each other a week.”
He shrugged. “My mom fell for my dad in twenty-four hours.”
“He’s rich,” she teased.
“Before he had money.” He smiled back.
“Well, we’re not in love. I don’t know him well enough to even dance around the idea.” Her stomach tucked in at the words that left her lips. “You can believe in the possibility of love, but it takes time to truly know if someone is the one.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. All I’m saying is you could be the one to break his rules, and maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”
“Why? Are you bored of playing the field? Do you want to settle down without quitting?”
“This isn’t about me. This is about what I think is best for my boss. For my friend.” The sincerity of his words blew through her and warmed her heart. “Anyway, I gotta take a piss.” He stood and patted her on the shoulder.
And that killed it, she thought, lightly chuckling.
She eyed the untouched mimosa next to her coffee. “Why not?” She started to reach for it but stopped when a shadow fell over the table.
Her gaze swept up to a man connected to a rope with a gun pointed at her head.
Too shocked to move, to think, to do anything—she only stared at him as he dropped beside her.
All black from head to toe. She could only see the pale green of his eyes. “Scream, and I put a bullet in your head,” he whispered, his gaze darting to the open door. “Where are they?”
“Not here,” she rushed out.
“You’re lying.” His finger slipped to the trigger, and the muzzle of the gun touched her forehead.
She lifted her hands in the air in surrender, tears building in her eyes. “They’re gone. They went somewhere.”
“Where? To get the safe?”
Oh, God . . . “Yes,” she cried.
“You’re coming with me.” The guy pointed to the terrace wall. “Climb up. We’re jumping.”
She looked at the rope looped around his waist and lifted her gaze, trying to locate its point of attachment.
“I won’t let you go. You’ll have to trust me.” He flicked the gun again, urging her to hurry.
She knew if they didn’t leave soon, Knox would appear, and the masked man could get a shot off before Knox had a chance to draw his weapon.
“Okay.” She shook as she hoisted herself up the three-foot wall to stand on the cement ledge, only a few inches in width.
“Wrap your arms around my waist,” he said once he stood next to her.
Knox would be there any second. She didn’t want him to die, and so she did as he’d said.
“Jump,” he yelled, just as she caught sight of Knox before they went over the ledge.
She screamed, but it was a waste of breath against the duct tape over her mouth. Her hands and feet were bound, and her body jerked from side to side, rolling with every bump in the road as the vehicle raced down the road.
The trunk was small, and her knees were pinned to her chest.
She’d tried to calculate in her head how many seconds had passed since they’d left the hotel.
Seconds had turned to minutes.
And now she’d lost count.
Knox had peered down at them after she’d landed on the sidewalk, a hard slap to her bare feet. The guy had held a gun to her temple as a warning to Knox not to fire, and then he’d hissed, “You did lie,” as he forced her to run toward a bank of palm trees.
Now the car came to an abrupt stop, and she pounded her bound fists at the roof.
Hope climbed into her chest at the memory of the diamonds Jessica had given her to keep her safe if anything had gone sideways last night.
She lifted her shoulder to her earlobe, then remembe
red she’d already given them back. “No,” she bellowed, tears streaking her face, a harsh sob fighting against her taped lips.
The engine died, and a door slammed shut.
He was coming for her, and he’d want the location of the safe.
But she’d die before saying a word.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Knox checked the hotel surveillance,” Luke told Jessica and Owen as soon as he ended the call. “The guy broke into the suite above ours and dropped down onto the terrace by rope. He tried to catch up with them on foot, but they’d disappeared before he even made it downstairs.”
“Shit.” Owen rushed a hand through his blond hair.
Why’d she have to take off those damn earrings? Luke tucked a fist inside the palm of his hand as he bowed his head, trying to figure out what the hell to do. “Whoever took her won’t go far, not if they think the safe is nearby and they’re looking to use her as their bargaining chip.”
“The guys will find—” Owen started.
“I should be the one looking!” Luke pointed to his chest.
They were still at Malik’s home, waiting for the safe to be packed up, but how could he sit around when Eva was out there?
“We need you here to help strategize.” Jessica placed her hand on his forearm as if she could calm down his racing heart.
“It had to have been a pro hit,” Owen said. “Dropping in by rope . . . Other than us and MacGyver, who the hell does that?”
“It’s gotta be someone with the CIA, probably former military.” Luke’s nostrils flared. “Maybe even a CIA asset, not necessarily an agent.”
“No one outside the agency knew of the safe house, and only a select few knew Harper was there,” Jessica reminded them.
“We need names of anyone stationed within a hundred-mile radius of our location, someone who could get to Harper fast enough to stop her from coming our way,” Luke snapped.
“Will should be able to give us a name, but he’s still in the air,” Jessica replied.
“We don’t have time to wait,” Luke was quick to say. “Something is in the safe that will tell us who the hell wants that information buried—something to reveal this prick’s identity.”
Stealth Ops Series Box Set Page 18
