Cover of Darkness (14 page)

"Some gentlemen here to see you."

Bryn stood up, flipping her straight dark hair off her shoulders so it spilled down her back. The breath backed up in his lungs and for a moment he let himself stare at her. Her body was lightly tanned, lean and beautifully toned, with long legs, high firm breasts and a flat stomach. A jewel glinted in her pierced navel.

Well, that hadn't been in her file, he thought as he struggled to drag his eyes up to her face.

"Hello," she called, squinting against the sun's glare as she pulled a modest wrap over herself.

Too bad, since he preferred her without it, but probably a good thing. She must not be able to see them, or she would have recognized him.

He flicked a glance at Luke, who watched her silently.

Obviously their visit was a surprise, which pissed him off even 129

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

more. She'd just buried her father yesterday, and now they were here—or rather, Luke was here—to spring this on her.

Tamping down his irritation, he stepped past Luke out of the shadows and into the sunlight.

"Hey, Bryn."

Delight lit her features. "Dec! I can't believe it! How are you?"

She came right up to him with that same radiant smile and wrapped her slender arms around his neck to hug him. The suppleness of her firm body pressing against him was sweet torture. The scent of her coconut sun block and sun-warmed hair rose around him, stirring him up. Distance, he reminded himself, but he returned the brief embrace gently, helpless to keep from smiling down at her when she pulled back to look at him.

"I'm glad you're okay. I was worried. I tried to find out where you were, but no one would tell me anything."

After all she'd gone through, she'd been worrying about him? She was so cute. "I'm fine," he assured her. "How are you holding up?"

The light in her eyes dimmed a little. "Good. Big turnout at the funeral, and I heard lots of interesting stories from some of his acquaintances. He was a good man."

"Yes, he was," Luke said from behind him.

Bryn peered around his shoulder as the older man came into view, surprise on her face.

Instinctively he stepped closer to her, noting how still she'd gone as she stared at Luke. "Bryn?"

"Luke, hi."

130

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

Satisfied she wasn't going to pass out, Dec backed up a step or two to give her some breathing room. Luke flicked him an amused glance, telling Dec his protective attitude had not gone unnoticed.

A furrow creased her smooth brow. "Is something wrong? I mean, I assume you didn't come by just to say hello. Did you?"

"Got something I wanted to talk to you about," Luke said evasively. "Can we sit down somewhere?"

"Sure, at the table over there." She gestured to the teak furniture under a pergola dripping with grapevines.

She knew something was up, he'd bet on it from her rigid posture. He could practically hear her brain humming as it puzzled out what was going on here.

Dec chose a seat opposite her and met her worried glance with a smile. "You look pretty good for someone who got hit with an RPG not much more than a week ago."

The quirk of her lips was nervous, a little forced. "Thanks.

My stitches just came out this morning."

"They sore?"
Of course they're sore, dumb ass. Look at
them, for crying out loud.

She lifted her shoulders. "A little. I've healed up pretty well, though."

"I'm glad." He glanced over at Luke, who seemed in no particular hurry to end the awkward conversation.

Bryn looked at him, too. "Ben talked to me about everything last night. Is something more going on?"

"Nothing more on that front."

"What front?" Dec asked.

131

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

"Tehrazzi putting a reward out for her capture."

Dec's jaw tightened and he glanced at Bryn, expecting to find fear in her eyes, but saw only acceptance. In that instant, any doubts he'd had about coming on board vanished. She needed someone to watch her back. He had the time, and the means. He wasn't budging.

Arms folded across his chest, he waited for Luke to get down to business.

Bryn faced him suddenly, the intensity in her dark eyes slicing through him. Then her gaze whipped back to Luke. "So what can I do for you?"

"Need a favor."

What a bunch of bullshit.
Dec barely withheld the comment. He knew exactly how this was going to play out.

Luke was going to use the guilt thing, telling Bryn she had a chance to get the guy responsible for her dad's death and her suffering.
I'm an old family friend, you know you can trust
me. And Dec and I put our asses on the line to get you out of
harm's way. So you owe it to yourself, your father, us and
your country to take this job.

There was a lot about how CIA operatives worked that Dec didn't know, but this was a real eye-opener, seriously pissing him off.

"Oh," Bryn was saying. "What kind of favor?"

Good. At least she sounded wary.

"An important one," said Luke.

Oh, Christ, here we go.

Luke set a photo on the table in front of her. "Do you recognize him?"

132

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

She studied it with a thoughtful frown, then shook her head. "No. Should I?"

"Farouk Tehrazzi."

Her eyes snapped back to the picture. "
He's
the one who planned the bombing and kidnapped us?"

Dec understood her surprise. Tehrazzi didn't look like your average terrorist. Nothing about him looked remotely Middle Eastern, except maybe his full beard, but that was light brown. With his fair skin and moss-green eyes, he looked more like a Maine fisherman or lumberjack than an Islamic militant. That was the thing about the war against these extremists—people back in suburban USA could be living right next to a sleeper cell member, and have no clue they were greeting a would-be suicide bomber when they waved over the fence at their neighbor while cutting the lawn. The stereotype of a terrorist being an Arabic-looking man with a crazy gleam in his eye couldn't be further from the truth.

Many were college educated—lawyers, doctors, PhDs. You just never knew who you had to watch for.

Luke pushed harder. "You sure he doesn't look familiar?"

"I'm sure. Why?"

Luke dropped another photo on top of it. "Because he went to Harvard the same time you did."

Her brows shot up. "He did? I don't recognize him, but it's a big school."

"He's a couple years older than you. Graduated the year after you did with a master's degree in political science."

133

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

Her expression tightened. "So are you saying he knew about me back then? That he's been trying to get to me this whole time?"

Luke regarded her solemnly. "Tehrazzi was born and raised in Lebanon, and when he was in his teens he caught the eye of a wealthy Syrian businessman named Masood. Masood took him under his wing and sent him to the States to earn a degree. During his studies, Tehrazzi continued to be involved with the Hezbollah movement that was gaining strength in Lebanon. Yeah, he knew who you were, but your father was the real prize he was after. He hated the fact that your father advocated for a relationship between his government and the U.S. It was dumb luck for him that you were here for the political summit when he executed the plot." He shifted forward and gazed at her in earnest. "As to why I'm here today...I need your help to bring him in."

Her mouth fell open. "Me? What could I do?"

Luke didn't look the least bit guilty—and he should have—

as he laid on the burden of responsibility. "You've escaped him. That means he's going to want you real bad."

Dec watched her absorb the whole thing silently, but didn't have a clue as to what was going on in her head. He kept waiting for her to laugh in Luke's face. He wanted her to say no. He telepathically begged her to outright refuse, tell Luke he was crazy.

"But I'm not qualified. I don't have the training," she protested in confusion.

Dec silently applauded her. Yeah, that was one of the major strikes against her and this whole gig.

134

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

"Surely you can find someone better suited to—"

"I've already told you, Bryn," Luke interrupted. "He will be coming after you again. It's only a matter of time. He's already put a bounty on your head."

She paled at the reminder and took a moment to collect herself. "So you're saying what? That you'll protect me if I'll help you?"

"You're going to need protection either way, but if you come on board with me I can help provide that. Tehrazzi is well trained and elusive as hell. Bottom line? I can make him go away that much faster if I have you."

Her expression oozed incredulity. "And what makes you so sure you can guarantee something like that?"

Dec arched a wry brow at Luke. He'd like to hear this.

The ex-SEAL ignored him. "Because your presence will give Tehrazzi...incentive to come out of hiding."

Bryn didn't miss a beat. "You think he'll resurface if you use me as bait."

Dec searched her face for any flicker of expression, but none came. So far he was impressed by her backbone, but a bit alarmed that she'd listened to this much without blowing the whole thing off. Did she realize how dangerous it would be? He didn't want her within a hundred miles of a terrorist, let alone trying to lure the kingpin straight to her. That's the only reason he'd agreed to take this job. If she was going to do this, then he was going to be there to keep her safe.

Luke gave a wry smile. "You speak some Arabic, you look like a native and you have a strong motivation to want this guy taken out of the picture. You don't need a lot of training 135

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

to do this. All I need is for you to get his attention so we can draw him out of hiding, and we'll take care of the rest."'

"But because I represent a personal failure for him, your chances of bagging him are much greater if you dangle me in front of him."

She was like a bulldog, wouldn't let Luke wiggle out of admitting the truth. Dec admired that.

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

She considered it all, chewing on her lip.

Say no, damn it. Come on, Bryn, you're a smart girl.

Instead, she aimed a glower at him. "And why are you here for this meeting?"

"Because I needed another operator," Luke answered for him. "And I prefer to work with SEALs when I can because they're disciplined and in superb physical condition.

Specifically, I want McCabe because he's the best they've got, plus I know he'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

Her dark eyes softened as she stared at him, but she said nothing.

Which was good, because Dec couldn't come up with anything to say either. Besides telling her not to even think about doing this.

Then Luke pulled a manila folder out of his briefcase and slid it across the tabletop toward her. Like a man coming up with a trump card.

Alarm bells sounded in Dec's head. "What's in there?" he demanded, afraid he already knew, and damn sure he didn't want Bryn seeing it.

She reached for it anyway, giving Luke a sideways glance.

136

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

Dec grabbed her wrist. "Don't open it, Bryn." He leveled a glare at Luke. "What's this?"

Luke ignored him, watching Bryn. The bastard must have known curiosity would get the better of her.

She pulled her hand from his and went to open it.

"Damn it, no," Dec said, snagging her hand again. He shook his head at her. "You don't need to see whatever's in there."

She didn't flinch. "I'm a social worker, Dec. I can handle it."

"No—"

But she used a quick wrist break and got loose, giving him a pointed reminder of her martial arts training. Bracing himself, he watched her flip the file open. She sucked in a quick, soft breath, her eyes eclipsed with horror. Dec angled his head. A photo of a decapitated woman dressed in a Burqa.

A burning rage filled his gut.

"My God, it's Qamar," she whispered.

Luke measured her reaction closely, ignoring Dec's anger.

"Tehrazzi tortured some villagers and found out she and her husband brought you water. After several hours of torture, that's how he repaid her." He flipped the page to the next photo. "And her husband."

She flinched at the hideous new image.

"They were his adopted grandparents."

"Dear God." Her fingers hesitated on the awful photograph, then started to shuffle to the next one.

137

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

"Jesus, that's enough!" Dec cried, slamming the folder shut and tossing it to Luke in disgust. But it was too late. Bryn's eyes were already brimming with a lethal rage.

"So will you help us?" Luke pressed his advantage.

She sought his face for help. "Dec?"

His answer was instant and heartfelt. "Go home, Bryn.

You've been through enough. Go home and sit on the beach and watch the sun set, breathe in the fresh air. Be safe and warm."

She held his gaze, probing his eyes for something. What, he wasn't sure. Then she turned back to Luke. "If I agree, what kind of protection will I have?"

"Dec's in if you are. You'll have the two of us and the rest of my handpicked team. Maybe some of your father's security team, if I like what I see."

"And you think I'm your best chance of nailing this guy?"

He gave her a meaningful look. "Would I be here otherwise?"

Bryn debated. "Emily always said you were the one she'd want watching her back if she were in trouble."

Some turbulent emotion flickered in Luke's dark yes before he masked it with a stiff smile. "She'd know all about that, wouldn't she?"

A subtle undercurrent simmered between the two of them.