Bare Nerve (11 page)

Jack didn’t like the feeling that he might have been betrayed by one of his men. To be fair, there weren’t that many lodge houses in El Golea that would welcome them. This was the land of the nomadic Berbers, and tourists really weren’t welcome in this part of the world. He wondered if they shouldn’t just sleep in shifts and keep driving.

But, like Bay had said, there were guerrillas who would not hesitate to attack them. This mission was quickly going through a color change from sugar to shit—something that wasn’t helped by him sleeping with Anna last night. Maybe this was his wake-up call.

Jack palmed his handgun as he and Bay left the vehicle and went into the lodging. There was no one at the reception desk, and two old paddle fans stirred the tepid air.

“Where is everyone?” Bay asked.

Jack shrugged. From his experience, when a place like this was empty, trouble lurked around the corner. “Let’s get out of here and find another place to sleep tonight.”

“Agreed.”

They walked out of the building through the lengthening shadows of the late afternoon. But the Humvee was gone.

“Fuck.”

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket just as it vibrated. Tommy’s voice said, “You’ve got company. Get out of the street. We’re three klicks from your location.”

Jack grabbed Bay’s arm and pointed down the street where Tommy had indicated the rest of the team was located. Just as they stepped back into the shadows, two rough-looking jeeps pulled into the parking lot. The men inside were Berbers, from their dress, and militants, if the semiautomatic weapons in their hands were any indication.

Bay pulled a gun from under his tunic. “This might not be about us,” he said.

“Agreed, but we don’t need or want the extra attention. We need to get on the other side of the building.”

“I’ll go first.”

Jack nodded and let the other man take the lead. He wasn’t familiar with this terrain.

Bay stopped abruptly, and Jack heard the sound of voices. He didn’t recognize the dialect but suspected it was an Arabic dialect.

Bay leaned back and spoke in a volume that didn’t carry any farther than Jack’s ears. “They’re looking for the women. They have instructions to make sure they do not leave the city. They believe they have beaten them to this lodge.”

Well, that sucked. How had these men found them? He needed to check with Anna to make sure her team was using secure radio transmissions. The men entered the lodge, and Bay and Jack walked past the now deserted alleyway. As soon as they were on the other side of the lodge, they broke out into a jog. Moving quickly down the street, they turned left at the end of the road and saw the Humvee waiting for them.

Jack had never been so happy to see his team. He needed to get them to safety, and then he wanted answers.

He opened the driver’s door and saw Anna sitting there. Her face was pale, and she looked pissed off. “Scoot over,” he said.

She slid over to the passenger’s seat as Bay got in the back. Jack got behind the wheel. A bullet grazed his left arm before he could close the door.

A
nna drew her Glock and opened her window to return fire. She heard the sound of Justine returning fire on the other side of the vehicle. Charity was giving directions to Jack, who began driving them very slowly down the narrow street while the men running behind them continued to fire.

Bay was firing as well, and Anna knew later she’d thank God they were all able to function as a team, but at that moment she was just glad Jack was back in the car and unharmed. She’d been so anxious for him when they’d had to move the Humvee.

“Fuck,” Jack said.

“What?” Anna asked.

The car sputtered, and though Jack kept his foot on the gas, she heard a whine that signaled the radiator had been hit. “We’ll have to dump the Humvee and continue on foot.”

“Charity, we need another transport. Take my laptop. I have three areas marked here where we can get something else for transportation.” Anna handed the small computer to Charity and then kept her eye and gun on her target. Now that the Humvee was slowing down, their on-foot attackers were closing the gap.

“Damnit. I’m going to floor it around this next corner. We all need to ditch as soon as I stop the vehicle. Charity, you need to be ready to tell us which direction to go.”

“I am.”

Jack accelerated, and as soon as they rounded the corner, Anna began gathering her pack and weapons. The Humvee ran out of steam about three kilometers later. They all scrambled out of the vehicle as soon as Jack steered it onto the shoulder of the road.

“We need to head west,” Charity said.

They moved in sync, finding the natural cover provided by the barren land and the shadows from the moon.

They fell into an easy formation: Anna and Jack stood guard, while Charity packed up the computer. Bay, Justine, and Tommy were already moving down the street, providing cover for them. As soon as everyone had everything from the vehicle, they were all moving down the street.

“This doesn’t feel like a random attack,” Anna said as they moved.

“It wasn’t. Those men were looking for your group,” Jack said.

“How did they know where we were?”

“I guess Sam has a leak, or maybe your radios weren’t secure,” Jack said.

“Doubtful,” Charity said. “We’ve never had a leak before. Besides, we are it. Sam doesn’t have anyone else he’d talk to about this mission except for your team.”

Jack didn’t say anything, but his face got tighter. “I personally vouch for every one of my guys, Charity. If you call their honor on the table, you’re calling mine as well.”

“I’m just saying our equipment is better than state of the art, and we never have this kind of problem,” Charity said.

Anna knew Charity was really angry. “We had a problem similar to this in Peru,” Anna said.

“That was Nigel’s person.”

“It still affected us,” Anna said.

“This is not helping right now,” Jack said. “If one of my men is responsible for this, I’ll deal with it.”

“Is there a chance that could happen?” Anna asked.

Jack just shrugged. She understood he didn’t want to admit that one of his guys may have betrayed him.

“I’ll do a background check on all your men when we get to a secure location.”

“That ought to go over well with Tommy.”

“I don’t care. And he shouldn’t either, if it means we’ll all be safe. And you need to know if someone is working both sides,” Anna said.

“It wouldn’t be for money,” Jack said.

“How confident are you of that?” Charity asked. The night shadows were lengthening, which gave them better cover from their pursuers.

“As confident as I can be,” Jack said quietly.

Anna reached out and touched his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out. However our location was leaked, it won’t happen again.”

“I agree.”

Jack didn’t say anything else until they caught up with Bay, Tommy, and Justine. He took the lead in the group, and Anna watched him move. At this moment she saw the truth of who he was. Saw the warrior in him as he managed to get them all through the streets without being seen. When they got to a small compound just outside the city proper, he stopped.

“Is this the right place?”

“Yes,” Anna said. “I have an old family friend who lives here.”

“Why aren’t we staying here?”

“Because I don’t like to bring my private life into the missions,” Anna said.

Martine DuBreque was an old friend. He was also a missionary she’d met two years after she’d been kidnapped. He’d helped her work through some of the anger she’d felt at not only God but at the government and her father.

They’d kept in touch over the years, but she’d hoped never to set foot in his house again.

She rang the bell and heard the Arabic greeting asking who was there.

“It’s Anna Sterling,” she said.

Less than a second later, she heard the click of the door lock opening. She opened the door, and they all stepped inside. She tried to appear as if this weren’t a big deal, but as soon she saw Martine walking down the cobbled path, still as tall and as big as a bear, she felt very much like the lost little girl she’d once been.

Jack didn’t like the scenario this evening. He hadn’t been able to get in touch with Kirk. J.P. and the rest of the team had gotten a flat tire halfway between El Golea and In Salah, and now he was in the house of a man who insisted on putting his hand on Anna’s shoulder every time he spoke to her.

Jack knew a big part of his anger stemmed from two things. One was that someone on his team may have been responsible for leaking their location, and two was that Anna could have been injured or killed.

Those men who had come after them weren’t the type to just let their victims walk away. Even though he’d seen the evidence with his own eyes that Anna could take care of herself, he was still edgy. He really needed five minutes alone with her so he could kiss the hell out of her and reassure himself they were both alive.

Tommy was seated in a formal sitting area that looked like it was used by some sheikh from an old-time movie. “I want you to stay on the radio until you find Kirk. Then let me know you have him.”

“Yes, sir. Do you think it was someone on our team who leaked the location?” Tommy asked.

They all remembered the night Armand had died, and it had been a lot like this—things going wrong, communications failing…“It better the hell not be.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. We have to be able to trust each other.”

“Damn straight. Don’t say anything to the other guys about what happened.”

“Yes, sir. I…I mentioned to J.P. that we’re getting another vehicle.”

“That’s fine. Does he have any contacts here?”

“None. I trust J.P. the way you trust Kirk.”

“Well, you weren’t the one who was set up. The women were. Do you know anything about that?”

“No, sir,” Tommy said, stretching his long frame on the ridiculously over-cushioned couch. “Do you think Andreev sent them?”

“Yes. He’s not going to take a chance on getting captured. And he’d know about the women from the embezzlement investigation.”

Tommy stood up. “I can’t stand this room.”

Jack laughed. “It seems like something out of a movie set.”

“You got that right. I also don’t like sitting still. Feels like we’re waiting for them to find us.”

Jack felt the same way. But this wasn’t just a Savage Seven op. Regardless, they were going to get the hell out of there as soon as humanly possible. The less time they spent around Martine the missionary, the better Jack would feel.

“While you’re monitoring the radio I’m going out to his garage to find us a vehicle. I want to be on the road before the hour is out.”

“Do you think the girls will go for that?” Tommy asked.

“Not if you call us girls,” Justine said from the doorway.

“Damn, I always get called out with my mouth,” Tommy said with a smile that even the hard-nosed Justine positively responded to.

Jack envied Tommy his easy way around women. He glanced over at Justine. “Is Anna ready to go?”

“Not yet. I couldn’t take another minute in that room. It’s too dark and weird.”

Jack definitely liked Justine. She was simple and straightforward, as uncomplicated as Anna was complex. “It
is
dark. I’m going to secure transport.”

“I’ll come with you. Charity’s in there talking about Eastern philosophy. Sometimes I really feel like the dumb one who likes to blow things up.”

Jack laughed at that. “There’s a lot to be said for blowing things up.”

“True that.”

They left the main house and walked through a flowered pathway to the garages. “Have you met this guy before?”

Justine shook her head. “Nah, but Anna knows people all over the world. Sam probably would have hired her just for her contacts.”

“Why did Sam hire her?”

“She’s a freakin’ computer whiz. She can get any information on her machine. And she’s pure magic as a sniper. You should see her work. I’m more of an in-your-face fighter, but she’s the best there is at a distance.”

That sounded like the woman he’d come to know. She liked to fight crime, but from a distance, so she didn’t dirty her hands.

“Why did Sam hire you?”

“Because no one else would,” Justine said. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“No problem,” he said. “I’m the same way about my past.”

“That’s good to know. You’re a good shot. I was impressed with your driving.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I was trained by the best.”

“I could tell. You remind me a bit of a guy I used to know.”

“Who?”

“My dad,” Justine said.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

Justine grabbed his arm. “If you hurt Anna, it won’t matter who you remind me of. I’ll come after you, and you’ll find out what it’s like to be up and close and personal with a very pissed-off American woman.”

Jack shook his head. “I’m not interested in hurting anyone.”

“Good. Then we won’t have any problems.”

Anna let Charity and Martine’s conversation flow around her. She was dealing with too many memories. She should have stayed out of country instead of coming with the team. Algeria wasn’t a place where she could handle the past and the present.

And that wild ride through the streets of El Golea had been more than she’d needed today. Jack had kept them safe, and he’d driven with the skill she expected of him, but she didn’t like it when things didn’t go according to plan.

“Will you excuse me, Martine? I need to check a few things on the computer before we can leave.”

“Certainly, Anna. If you need anything at all that I can provide, please let me know.”

“I will. Thanks for the use of your garage and the shelter here.”

“It is my pleasure.”

Anna left Charity with Martine and went to find a quiet space. The only room unoccupied was Martine’s silly harem room with the big pillows and colorful fabrics. She grabbed her backpack and pulled out her laptop. She used her scrambler to make a secure connection to the Internet and started going through the pasts of the men on the Savage Seven team.

She plugged in all their names and waited for the files to come back. She didn’t want to suspect Jack’s team, but she knew men, and she had been betrayed too many times in the past to ever really trust anyone.

Perhaps a big part of her attitude had been formed in childhood. It was odd, but she’d never been able to really feel safe, even with her father at her side. But then the Blue Men of the Tuareg had made her feel safe.

She couldn’t explain it.

She heard footsteps and glanced up as Jack walked under the archway. She was very happy to see him, which was silly—a feminine reaction to the fact that he had walked into a dangerous situation.

He crossed to her side and took the laptop from her, setting it carefully on the floor before taking her by her shoulders and drawing her to her feet.

He wrapped his arms around her, and she couldn’t help but cling to him. To hold him as tightly as she could. She tilted her head to the side, and their eyes met a second before their lips met as well. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the emotions she felt.

She tunneled her fingers through his close-cropped hair. He smelled familiar, and his warmth wrapped around her, warming that part deep inside her that was still shivering. She wasn’t afraid for herself, she realized, but for him.

She had been in more dangerous situations, and she had always survived.

Jack lifted his head from hers but kept his hands on either side of her head. “I was so damned worried about you.”

She shook her head, reaching up to touch the scar on the side of his face. “Don’t be. You’re one hell of a driver.”

“I’d rather we didn’t have to put ourselves through that again.”

“Me, too,” she said. “I was looking through the files of your men. Can you help me make sure I’ve got the right guys?”