by Lori Ryan
Eleanor wanted to roll her eyes but didn’t. Like she couldn’t walk and read at the same time.
As the crowd fell away behind them and they moved further along the walkway to a more isolated area, she opened a message from Beth and read the lines. Beth’s flight was delayed four hours and she wouldn’t be in until the evening. She said that Eleanor should go along to the base without her.
Eleanor’s steps faltered as she looked at the time the message was sent. Ten minutes ago.
So why had the man said her assistant was already at the base?
She looked over at the man at her side and slowed, moving away. “I’ve just realized I should really use the bathroom before we go.”
He shook his head. “There’s no time for that.” He reached for her arm, but she stepped back.
“I’ll be fast. If I don’t go now—”
He didn’t let her finish. This time when he reached for her, he caught his mark, his face going dark as he grabbed her with enough force to leave a bruise.
Eleanor’s heart slammed into overdrive and she felt a rush of panic and fear overtake her. Why hadn’t she called the base to confirm his identity? She knew better than that. Any change in plans should be confirmed in her job. But she’d been so focused on trying to prep for the role ahead of her that she hadn’t thought. Hadn’t stopped to take the time to do what she knew she should. And now she was going to pay for that mistake.
Fear kicked her into action and her self-defense training kicked in. She dropped her bags and twisted, wrenching her arm up and close to her body to pull the man off balance. He kept his hold on her but it had loosened. She turned into him and raised her foot, bringing it down on his knee at an angle. He let out a cry and she shoved as hard as she could before turning to bolt.
She ran, then, ignoring his shouts as she tried to get back to the busy section of the airport where she might get help. Blood rushed in her ears and she couldn’t get her body to move fast enough. It felt like she was swimming through mud with concrete blocks where her feet should be.
It was then that she realized there was more than just his shouting she was hearing. Someone else was calling to her. Eleanor looked up to see three large men running at her and she froze.
These guys weren’t like the man she’d just escaped from. With his medium height and build, he’d been hard enough to evade, even with the training she’d had. These men were a different story altogether.
If these men got hold of her, she’d be done. Each of them was bigger than a truck, well-muscled, and from the looks of them, a hell of a lot more skilled than the man behind her. It was in the way they moved. That loose-hipped swagger that said they knew damned well how to take apart anyone who got in their way. The confidence that oozed off of them, telling the world to move out of their way, or else. And it was an or else they were fully capable of following through on.
She needed to move. Now!
She couldn’t go backward so she swerved and headed toward the side of the terminal. Maybe she could evade them until she made it back toward the crowd and then lose them somehow in the fray.
Part of her knew that wasn’t remotely possible, but she wasn’t about to stop trying. She had to keep moving. If she didn’t, they would get her and this—whatever this was—would end badly.
“Eleanor!”
Her lungs burned and she knew she was sucking in air way too fast. She was going to hyperventilate.
“Nori stop!”
This time, something about the shouted name began to chisel through the terror and panic. No one called her Nori.
At least not anymore.
Before she could piece together the disjointed memory of another time and place with what was happening here, she lost her footing. Her shoe caught on something and she was falling.
“Nori stop!” came the instruction again, command behind the tone.
Eleanor couldn’t stop. She pitched forward, putting her arms out as the ground rushed toward her.
But she didn’t land on the concrete as she thought she would. Strong arms caught her. She began to kick and punch out at the man who held her, knowing that to give in would mean they’d have her. If they got her away from here, she’d never get away. Hell, it might mean her death. She didn’t face danger every day in her job, but there was always the possibility of it.
“Nori, it’s Heath. It’s Heath Davis. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Eleanor froze again as his words broke through the haze surrounding her. Heath?
She couldn’t make sense of the name, so out of place in her world now. So unexpected.
She looked up into the glass-green eyes of a man she never thought she’d see again. And certainly not in the middle of a kidnapping attempt outside a Turkish airport.
Whether it was the stress of the moment, the shock of seeing him again, or the insanity that now seemed to be firmly taking over her battered mind, she let out a garbled half-laugh, half-cry. Then she did the only thing she could in that moment.
She let herself slump into the hold of a man she’d once thought she’d loved. Once, a very long time ago when she was a very different person.
Chapter 3
He didn’t think Eleanor was fully processing what was happening.
“Principal is secured. Pursuing target,” Jangles said through their comms as he and Zip took off after the guy who’d just tried to grab Eleanor.
Heath had his arm around her and was practically carrying her as he took in their surroundings. There was no sign of anyone else working with the man. No one who looked like they would be a threat. Only shocked onlookers who had realized too late that something was happening.
He scooped up her bags where she’d dropped them and looked down at Eleanor. Her eyes were glassy and he could feel her shaking.
He spoke quietly, his voice low and reassuring. “You’re all right now, Nori. They won’t get near you now that we’re here.”
He’d said much the same thing a few times now and she nodded jerkily but he knew she’d need time to deal with what had just happened.
Thank fuck he’d gotten to her in time. He didn’t want to think what might have happened if the man had gotten her away from the terminal to someplace he could work her over alone. Heath had seen too much of what people could do to each other in this world.
She tilted up her head to look at him. “Why are you here?”
She took a little step back as she seemed to realize how close they were. He didn’t blame her. He was probably the last person she wanted to see.
“I’ll explain it all when we get you into a vehicle.”
She looked down the sidewalk at all the cars coming through the passenger pickup line closer to the terminal.
“My team will be here any—”
He stopped when Merlin pulled their SUV around the traffic of the airport, two wheels kissing the curb, before coming to a stop in front of them. Heath nudged her to the car, steering her to the back seat and then sliding in beside her so she was sandwiched between him and Duff.
Jangles and Zip jogged up to the car, Zip jumping into the front seat, while Jangles hopped into the third row through the back.
“I take it you didn’t catch up to the guy who tried to grab her?” Heath was talking through gritted teeth but he couldn’t stop himself. He was trying to deal with the insane protective drive coursing through him at seeing her in danger just now.
It wasn’t anything like dealing with protection detail on another op. There were plenty of times when a threat got up close and personal with their principal. They handled it. Stayed calm and got the job done, neutralizing the danger.
When Heath saw Eleanor struggling with that man, saw that man’s hands on her, cold hard rage had torn through his body so hard and fast it damn near floored him. He’d be damned if he was going to let anything happen to this woman.
Zip turned in his seat, answering Heath’s question about the man they’d been chasing. “Took a header right ov
er the edge of the overpass before we could grab him. Actually dove headfirst like he wanted to make damned sure he didn’t survive that fall.”
Heath saw Eleanor go pale as she wrapped her arms around her middle and seemed to gulp in air. Damn. He needed to settle her down. He put a hand on her leg and squeezed gently, focusing her attention on him.
Heath spoke quietly. “Slow your breathing. Nice and easy.”
She watched him as she did as he said, taking one deep breath after another.
“Eleanor, this is Merlin.” Heath gestured to Merlin who was currently pulling the car away from the curb and out into traffic.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
“Step on it, Mer.” This came from Zip.
“That’s Zip,” Heath said as Zip grinned and waved. Zip was always smiling. They could be knee deep in shit with a shit storm brewing and more shit headed at them on a tidal wave, and that man would grin and talk about how much he loved shit.
He gestured to Duff who sat on the other side of her. “This is Duff.” To her credit, she didn’t blink at the size of the enormous man or the fact he wore a perpetual glower on his face as she turned and nodded her greeting.
“Jangles is in the back,” he said tipping his head toward the only blond on their team. Jangles had his head in a laptop and Heath would guess he was working on deleting video footage from the airport, but he looked up and nodded at Eleanor.
Heath returned his gaze to Eleanor, watching her as he spoke to see if her heart rate and breathing were starting to return to normal. He could no longer see the small vein in her neck pumping and she wasn’t gulping for air like she had been. That was good.
He had to give her credit. She had calmed herself faster than a lot of people would in that situation.
“We’ve been assigned to protect you. We’re going to make sure you get to the meeting with Demir on time and in one piece,” Heath said, willing himself to be professional where this woman was concerned. What he wanted to do was haul her into his lap and hold her till her shaking stopped.
“On time, every time.” This quip came from Jangles. “That’s our motto.” He didn’t look up from the laptop as he spoke.
“I’m pretty sure that’s taken already. Some moving company or insurance company or something,” said Duff.
“Damn, should’ve trademarked that shit when we had the chance,” Jangles said. He shut the laptop. “Video’s scrubbed,” he said, letting them all know he’d erased any airport security video of what had just gone down.
Heath could see the wheels turning in Eleanor’s head. She was smart, she would put it all together quickly, he was sure.
“You went into the Army,” she said, “but you guys have to be special forces. Rangers? Green Berets?” She tilted her head, studying him and he could guess she was taking in the way his hair wasn’t really military short on top and the scruff on his chin. Someone in her position would know special forces were allowed a lot more leeway in their appearance than your average soldier. “Delta?”
He shook his head. “Can’t discuss that.”
She rolled her eyes and he knew she was thinking of her security clearance. As Delta forces, they had top secret clearance, but so did she. In fact, she probably had a few ticks higher than that, but they still didn’t need to discuss who and what his team was. It just wasn’t something they did unless they had to.
Eleanor seemed to move on then, accepting his response. “He said my assistant had already landed, but she hadn’t.” She tensed beside him, sitting up straighter. “My team is on their way here. Will these people go after them? Are they safe?”
He reassured her. “There’s another team grabbing them. They’ll take them to Kazarus using a different route and we’ll meet up with them just ahead of the summit with Demir.”
“I’m supposed to go to the US Air Force base here in Adana.” Eleanor shifted around to look around them at the roads outside the car. “I have to get to the meet with Demir. It’s too important not to.”
“We’ll get you there,” Heath said quietly.
“Just going to have a change of plans, mix things up a little,” said Merlin from the front seat. “Someone fed them your itinerary. We need to change things up to keep you safe. From now on, no one outside this car is going to know our plans or your itinerary.”
Eleanor gave another of those too-jerky nods and he saw her press her hands to her thighs to control the shaking that had started moments before. “Why did they want me? Where was he planning to take me?”
There was a stillness in the car at her question and she looked to Heath, searching his expression. He stayed carefully neutral.
“We don’t know for sure but there’s been some chatter someone wants to make sure you don’t make it to this meeting. Could be the Kazarus government. Could be members of the terrorist groups in this region that have an interest in keeping that regime in place. Could be any number of organizations, but we know one thing: he wasn’t planning to take you home for tea and cookies.”
He didn’t mention the possibilities. It was possible they would have held her for a time and then let her go, but the more likely scenario was that they would have taken her someplace off the grid and killed her outright. If the US couldn’t get a negotiator to Demir alive, they might just have to give up on the idea of forming an alliance with him.
Eleanor looked down at her hands and he could see her working to absorb the shock. She might be high up in the foreign service, but anyone who wasn’t used to dealing with the scum of the earth like this on a daily basis would be hit hard when it came so close to home.
Heath vowed to himself he’d put a stop to whatever assholes were trying to hurt her. He’d failed her before, but he’d be damned if he’d ever let that happen again. She would be safe with him and his team.
She had to be.
Chapter 4
“We’ll get some sleep here while the guys grab provisions and make arrangements for the next leg of our trip,” Heath said, putting Eleanor’s bag on the small bed in the equally small apartment.
Eleanor had watched as he and the others checked the room before the other men on the team filed out without a word. It seemed like they all had some strange ability to communicate with each other without words. Or maybe this was standard operating procedure or whatever and they didn’t need to talk through a plan before acting. It probably wasn’t unusual for them to be protecting someone who’d just had an attempt made on her life so they had to go through the motions.
She was beginning to realize that’s what had happened back there at the airport. The man might have been trying to kidnap her, but more than likely given what Heath had said, the end goal was to kill her and dump her body somewhere she’d never be found.
A chill ran through her for what seemed like the hundredth time that day and she rubbed her arms to try to chase away the sensation.
And then Heath was there in front of her pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back with those large warm hands and it felt so damned right. So safe.
This was Heath. Her Heath, the boy she’d dated in her last year of high school. From another lifetime, it seemed.
The boy she’d hurt in more ways than she could count.
She forced back the memories, trying to focus on the here and now. She wasn’t that girl anymore. She wasn’t weak and insecure and afraid the way she had been so often then.
And truth be told, she could see he was different than he was in high school. He’d been smiling and happy all the time then, but it was an act. He’d used jokes to deflect what he was feeling. Now, he might joke with his team, but he was changed on a basic level. He was hardened with an edge to him that said he’d seen and done things no ordinary person would want to know about.
There was genuine confidence about him now, too. Not the bravado of a kid jock who put on a show for everyone around him. This was the kind of certainty that said he knew who he was and what he had to contribute to the world. That
said he wasn’t worried about what people thought of him.
Not to mention, he was very different physically. The boy had filled out. He was taller. Maybe 6-foot-2 and all muscle. His light brown hair was now short on the sides and unruly on the top and framed a tanned, chiseled jaw with the lightest of scruff that made her want to run her hands over it. He had a small scar at his temple and another cutting across the left side of his lip. The green eyes she’d always loved looked at her softly now as he continued to tell her to breathe.
Lust slammed into her just as it always had where he was concerned. Talk about wrong place and wrong time. And definitely wrong person.
She gave herself a minute to sink into the heat of his embrace, to melt and let the fear and tension of all that had happened melt away. But then she reminded herself she had no right to take any comfort from this man. Not to mention, they were in the middle of trying to get her to a very important negotiation. One she couldn’t mess up or muddle with distractions.
She stepped back and broke the embrace. She should have her mind on her work. She had known coming into these talks that this was going to be messy. The United States had always had a strict policy of not negotiating for hostages. And while that was still the case, they now made the distinction between negotiation for hostages and communicating with them.
So she was being sent in to talk to Onur Demir about other things, but discussing the health and well-being of those hostages wasn’t out of the question. And stressing to him that her government would be more likely to broker a deal with him for support of his cause if those hostages were released wouldn’t violate protocol.
Of course, that got messy and there were plenty of people back home who thought she shouldn’t be here. But she went where the President and her State Department bosses told her to go, and they’d told her to come talk to Demir.
Heath’s voice when he broke into her thoughts was raspy but there was a gentleness to it. “You should get some sleep, Nori. We need to move again soon and you’ll feel better if you get some rest before then.”
