by Lori Ryan
“HALO Security. It’s out of Austin. Bunch of former SEALs and Deltas,” he said, not at all put off by Duff’s lack of spoken reply. The man mostly communicated in grunts and hard stares.
Heath was surprised when the door opened and Eleanor and Beth walked out. They’d only been in the room for a half hour.
Heath and Duff went on alert and he saw Zip and Merlin do the same down the hall.
Eleanor gave him a small shake of her head, signaling to him that all was well, as she and Beth walked toward the exit to the building.
He and Duff fell in behind them while Zip and Merlin cleared the way ahead of them.
When they’d exited the building, Eleanor spoke to him. “We’re heading back to the hotel until after lunch.” She lowered her voice. “Can you have someone watch the camp and see if Demir leaves? He’s not willing to discuss the hostages at all and since we know he went to the bunker yesterday I want to know if he goes over there again today.”
“You don’t think he’ll give in and call you back to the table?” Beth asked.
Eleanor shook her head. “No. He’s not going to capitulate. In fact, I’m not sure he’ll give in after lunch. I need to be ready to completely walk away from here if he doesn’t. He won’t respect me if I don’t and we’ll get nowhere on this fast. We’d be better off walking away and coming back to him down the road.”
They met up with the rest of Eleanor’s team and were in the SUV and moving toward the exit of the compound when Beth answered. “I’ve never known you to walk away from a negotiation without getting what you wanted. You’d really leave if he won’t deal?”
Eleanor didn’t answer but Heath could see the struggle in her eyes. She wanted to get those hostages out and wanted to cut the deal her boss had sent her here to make.
She’d been like that in high school, too. Always wanting to be the best at everything she put her mind to. She’d put so much pressure on herself to succeed, her nose stuck in her books studying all the time.
He’d been the exact opposite. And he convinced her to loosen up and have fun with him for the short time they’d been together.
His gaze roved over the landscape as they drove through the sparse fir trees that dotted the landscape around Demir’s compound. They were driving on what could really only be described as a sandy path, but it was wide enough for the SUV. They would hit a larger dirt road soon that would take them out to the main highway and back to the populated region where the hotel was.
As they approached the intersection with the dirt road, he couldn’t miss the truck barreling toward them. He pushed Eleanor down.
“You see it, Merlin?”
“I’m not blind,” the unofficial leader of their team called back to him as he swerved to the left so the truck missed them.
The rest of Eleanor’s team was in the SUV behind them. The truck clipped the corner of their vehicle and they spun out.
Zip and Jangles jumped out of the vehicle as Merlin slowed. Beth was screaming and Eleanor was trying to sit up, but Heath kept himself over her. No way he was letting anything happen to her. Not when he’d just found her again.
What the hell was that thought doing there? It almost sounded like he hoped now that he’d found her, this could go somewhere. It couldn’t. Yes, he’d kissed her the night before, but that didn’t mean nothing more could happen between them.
There wasn’t room for love in his world. She would forever be waiting at home for him when he was away on missions. They couldn’t tell anyone where they were going or when they’d be back. Couldn’t let her know if he was safe. It would be hell on any woman who was with him. He wouldn’t do that to Eleanor. Wouldn’t turn her world into one of uncertainty and strain like that.
“My team?” She asked from beneath him as Merlin sped up and got their SUV out of there.
He had to hand it to her. She was handling this much better than he thought she would. Better than Beth who was still screaming.
Heath put a hand on Beth’s shoulder and pushed her down, but he didn’t cover her with his body. His assignment was to protect Eleanor. And assignment or not, that’s what he was going to do. If they wanted to get to her, they’d have to go through him.
Merlin was driving hell bent down the dirt road now.
“My team?” Eleanor said again, this time a lot more demand in the words.
Heath looked back. Zip and Jangles had opened fire on the truck from behind a large boulder. He couldn’t see if anyone had gotten out of the truck, but they were returning fire.
Duff was driving the SUV with the rest of Eleanor’s team in it and he had the driver’s door open, unloading his HK 416 on the truck.
“They’re safe,” he said to Eleanor, not really knowing for sure that they hadn’t been injured in the crash. And it wasn’t like they were out of danger.
Still, the crash had really been minor and he fully expected Duff and the boys to take care of the people in the truck and get her team back to the hotel in one piece. It’s what they did and they were good at it.
“We’re not going back for them?” There was outrage in her voice.
Beth was crying now.
“No,” Heath said, no apology at all in the words. “Our mission is to keep you safe. Our team has them covered.”
He looked behind them. There were no signs of anyone else coming at them or anyone coming to help the guys in the truck. He watched as Zip and Jangles approached the cab of the truck.
Seconds later, they were hopping into the SUV with the others and Duff was steering the dented vehicle around the truck to catch up to Heath and Merlin.
“They’re safe,” he said to her and Beth. “Catching up now.”
He eased back and let Eleanor sit up.
She turned to look out the back window. The SUV was still a long ways back but it was clear they were catching up and the truck wasn’t pursuing them.
He could hear her exhalation as she let out a relieved breath. He squeezed her thigh as he started to realize just how much his heart was slamming in his chest. He was trained to handle combat situations and life-threatening scenarios. He was used to holding the life of someone they were tasked to protect in his hands. Used to split second decisions and to the adrenaline pumping scenarios where you went from copasetic to FUBAR in an instant.
He stayed calm and steady through it all. He didn’t worry. He did the job.
But he’d never felt the way he did on this mission. Every time Eleanor was in danger it sent him reeling. He’d never felt the heart stopping terror he felt now at the thought of her being hurt or worse.
He didn’t like that whoever was trying to stop this negotiation had tried for her again.
“Is my team okay?” Eleanor asked.
Merlin nodded, giving her the update that had come over their earpiece moments before. “No one is seriously injured. Marcus hit his head and Sharon’s wrist is sore but nothing life threatening.”
“How did they know we were coming?” Eleanor looked at Heath. “We were scheduled to be there through the afternoon.”
Merlin met Heath’s gaze in the rearview mirror. Heath had been wondering the same thing.
Still, he brushed off her concern. She had enough to think about without worrying about the fact that someone on her team might be trying to get her killed.
“They probably had a team watching for any opportunity that might arise.”
It was true. They’d probably simply left the men there to watch just in case they got a shot in on her. In fact, the attempt hadn’t been all that professional or well organized. Heath wondered if the organization after her had simply hired a few extra amateurs to cover their bases since the professional teams they’d sent so far hadn’t been successful.
What he didn’t say to her was that it was possible the person who had leaked her flight information wasn’t back in her home office, but here on the ground with them. And that person had somehow messaged their contact when Eleanor changed their schedule.
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When he got her back to the hotel safely, Heath was going to tear into the lives of the people around her. They needed to find out who was helping these people and put a stop to it. Now.
Chapter 16
Not unexpectedly, it was a while before he was able to get Eleanor alone. She met with her team while his people tried to find out what was happening. Duff radioed in that Demir and his brother had gone to the bunker where the doctors were being kept. Duff was still watching from outside, but so far no one had come back out.
He studied the people sitting at the table with her now. Marcus’s hands were shaking and the others all looked shook up. But even if one of them had been the one to tip off whoever was gunning for them, they’d be shaken by what had happened.
He could see Beth looking at all of the members of the team and could all but read her thoughts. She was starting to doubt all of them. Geoff too, going by the edge to his tone as they spoke.
Eleanor, though, she was holding it all together. “Guys, we have a job to do. I know what just happened was scary as hell and if any of you want to go home, I won’t blame you for that. But if we stay, we need to find a way to stay calm through this and go back in there. We can’t let whoever this is derail these talks. We just can’t.”
Sharon rubbed her arms as though she were trying to warm herself. “That was … “ She stopped and shook her head. “That was horrible. It was terrifying when that truck hit us.”
Eleanor reached over and squeezed the other woman’s hand. “It was. And I know this is hard. You can go home if that’s what you want to do.” She looked to her people. “And you guys can stay back at the hotel and support me from here if you want to do that, too. I can manage.”
That got her people’s attention and Heath saw steel in all their eyes at that. Even Marcus, despite the shaky hands.
“To hell with that,” Beth said. “We’re not going to be run off.” She looked around at the group. “And I’ll tell you what I’m also not going to let them do. I won’t let someone make me suspect all of you. I don’t believe it was anyone in this room and I won’t let someone scare me into thinking the worst of the people I know and trust to have my back.”
Eleanor was smiling at Beth but Heath wasn’t so sure. He wouldn’t rule out anyone as long as Eleanor was in danger. He couldn’t.
Half an hour later, Heath watched as Jangles and Zip led Eleanor’s people out of the hotel room before turning to Eleanor.
“Want to go to our room and take a break? You can lie down for a bit before meeting the others for dinner.”
She tilted her head. “So it’s officially our room?”
He gave a low laugh and walked closer to her, closing the space between them like he’d wanted to all day. He’d never had such a hard time remaining professional on an op. Not that he was fully succeeding. He’d already made it damned good and clear to his team that they were all welcome to take turns standing watch at Eleanor’s door, but that he’d be the only one in that room overnight with her.
He opened the door to the attached room and they did the same routine they’d done the night before when they’d gone down the hall. They returned to the room they’d slept in, this time with Jangles opening the door and leaving when they entered.
Heath watched as she kicked off her shoes and went to the bed. When he went to the armchair and started to lower himself into it, she stopped him.
“Are you planning to rest?”
He nodded. He normally wouldn’t be kicking off his boots and laying down to rest, even if that’s what this time was for. He and his men were still on guard. But he knew Jangles was outside the room and Duff and Merlin were in the room next door and he’d been up much of the night before. They were covered and he needed to rest if he was going to be any use to Eleanor.
He groaned at the idea of being of use to her. Damn, he wanted to let her use him any and every way she wanted to. He pictured her above him, straddling him as she sank down onto him. Running her hands over his chest as her breasts swayed above him.
Christ.
“Then share the bed with me. That chair can’t be comfortable.”
He kept his face blank even though his eyebrows wanted to climb onto his forehead at her words. “The bed?”
Okay, so he hadn’t quite managed to keep his voice from going thick and heavy at the suggestion of sharing the bed with her.
“We’re adults, Heath. I think we can manage to lay on a bed for a nap together.”
He wasn’t so sure about that, but he didn’t argue. He shucked his boots and laid on the bed, over the covers like she was doing.
He wanted to take Nori into his arms the way he used to and felt his chest tighten at the memory of her arms wrapped around him and the way she used to snuggle into him, burying her head in his chest.
She and her team had just pulled apart the entire morning’s negotiations so he searched for a topic that wasn’t at all related to work.
“Tell me about your stepfather. You said you took his name when you were in college?”
Heath knew her mom had worked two jobs to support her and Eleanor growing up. Her mom had been young when she had her and her father had never been part of the picture, but her mom had worked hard to make sure Eleanor had everything she needed, including her mom’s love.
He remembered going over to their small apartment. Eleanor had her own room but her mom slept on a small bed in what was supposed to be a tiny office in the one-bedroom apartment. Even as a teenager, he’d been able to see that her mom was something special. She wanted the best for Eleanor and she didn’t want Eleanor to have to work. She always told Eleanor she should be able to focus on school, not making sure they had food. He had respected the hell out of Eleanor’s mom.
Eleanor nodded against his chest. “My mom married him when I was a freshman in college. He didn’t care if I was already grown up. He was there with my mom for all the important things. Dropping me at school, parent weekends, that kind of thing. And when I came home for breaks, he wanted to hang out. Not in an I’m-trying-too-hard kind of way. He just was there for me as though he’d been with my mom and me forever. And for once, I saw that my mom wasn’t having to work as hard anymore. She had a partner in things. It was nice.”
“It sounds nice,” he said. He had never gotten along with his own dad so what she was describing with her stepdad really did hit home. Heath would have loved to have a parent that took an interest in him like that.
She nodded. “And then when my mom got sick, he was by her side all the time. He never left her, never seemed to mind taking care of her. He was her cheerleader all the way.”
“That’s good that she had someone with her through it all.” He wanted to reach over and hold her, but he stuck his hands behind his head and clenched them together, like lacing the fingers might lock them in place to keep him from doing something stupid. “And you. It’s nice that you had him there with you when she was sick.”
“It was. I wanted to leave school to help her but they wouldn’t hear of it. At first I was resentful of that. It had always been the two of us and when he came along, I was okay with that because I didn’t want her to be lonely. But then when she was sick, I kind of wanted to be the one to be by her side.”
“Did you leave school to be with her?”
“No.” She had rolled to face him and the move was damned distracting, but he wanted to hear this. Wanted to know all of what he’d missed when they had been living separate lives.
She went on. “He convinced me not to. He told me he would always be there for her and for me. He wanted me to do what my mom would want, and that was to stay in school. He promised me that if she started to lose her fight with cancer, he would let me know so I could come home and be there at the end.”
“And he did?”
She nodded again, into his chest. “I came home for the last few weeks. It was then that he told me he wanted me to take his name, if I wanted to. That even though I was almost ready
to graduate college by then, that he and I were family and we would stay that way even after my mom died.”
“Are you still close?”
“Yes. Very. By that time, I really did love him like a dad and I cried when he asked me if I would take his name. It meant so much to me and I know it meant the world to my mom to know I wouldn’t be alone after she died. He’s remarried now and has step-kids and grand-step-kids and all. I still go see them sometimes when I can get away and I spend holidays there when I’m in the states.”
“Where do they live?”
“Texas. Austin. It’s a fun place to visit.” She was tilting her head up to him now and he would swear she was staring at his mouth.
He knew he was going to give in and kiss her any minute. Knew he was past winning this fight. He was too far gone. But he wanted her to know one thing.
“You were incredible at the compound with Demir today. He saw you as a real equal. I could see that he developed respect for you as the morning went on and you showed him how in command you were. How you could go into this compound in a country in the middle of a civil war and keep your cool and negotiate with him. You did good, Nori. Real good.”
She flushed and ducked her head and he laughed.
Then he leaned closer, closing the distance between them, careful to keep some small amount of space between their bodies even as his mouth found hers. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to stop this with a kiss. Wouldn’t be able to leave it at that. But he had to taste her. Had to show her what she did to him.
He kissed her long and slow and deep. He just wanted the chance to connect with her. To be with her in this way, with just the two of them. To let her feel how much he’d missed her in his life all these years. How much her absence had cut him, even when he hadn’t known that was what was missing.
Chapter 17
Zip and Jangles were watching Eleanor. It was the only way Heath would agree to leave her. He trusted his team with his life and hers even though it killed him not to be with her. But for now, he needed to be here with Merlin and Duff, poring over the particulars of the reports they’d gotten on Eleanor’s team members.
