Hunted (FBI Heat Book 1) (20 page)

Ben’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he drove in the opposite direction on the bridge where they both could’ve died earlier. Angling a sideways glance across the car at Amber, he avoided looking at the other side of the roadway when they passed the spot. Was Amber thinking about the same thing? He couldn’t tell. Of course, she’d hardly said a word since watching Laura Eldridge be arrested.

“I can’t believe you’re holding it together after the day you’ve had,” he said.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“As you should. Do you want to stop somewhere for dinner?”

“No, thanks. I’m not really hungry even though I haven’t eaten since a bowl of cereal early this morning. Let’s just order pizza.”

“I don’t think I’ve eaten either. Been that kinda day.”

They lapsed back into silence.

He cleared his throat. “Can I do anything to help?”

She gulped. “Just get me home… I mean to
your
apartment. If that’s all right. I know the police are finished with mine after rescuing Lisa, but I don’t think I can sleep there tonight.”

Jesus, did she really think he would kick her out of his place the minute Jeremy was no longer a threat? She knew him better than that, didn’t she? Couldn’t she tell he was…?

“You’re welcome to stay with me… as long as you want.”
Embrace your new love
, Marissa’s voice said in his head.
Well hell, Alfren, just go for it.
He inhaled a fortifying breath. “I like having you there.”

She turned to him, studied him. Her lips trembled, her eyes glistened, and then she looked away. “I want to eat, call my mom, take a bath, and go to sleep.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

A plan to push me away before you leave.

* * *

Amber’s mother answered the phone with a subdued, “Hello.”

Her heart squeezed. She hadn’t heard a happy greeting from the woman since she’d left Kansas two years ago. This ordeal had been hard on her whole family. That was changing today. She forced cheerfulness into her voice. “Mom, it’s me.”

“Oh, sweetie. It’s so good to hear your voice. You okay? Jeremy didn’t find you again, did he?”

“Yeah, he found me, but it’s the last time. It’s over, Mom.”

Her mother hesitated. “Over? Did he get arrested? Oh, baby, tell me he didn’t hurt you again.” A sob choked off the last word.

“I’m fine, Mom. Great, in fact.” So what if it was a little white lie. She squared her shoulders. “Jeremy’s dead.”

Another pause.

“D-Dead? You’re sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Hallelujah, praise the Lord!” More sobs reached Amber’s ears.

“Mom, don’t cry. You should be happy.”

“These are happy tears, baby girl. Your daddy’s gonna be so happy too. I can’t wait to see you. When’re you coming home?”

The inevitable question. “I’m partly packed already, but I need a day to… recover.”
A day to say good-bye to Ben.
“I’ll probably start out on Saturday. I’ll try to drive it in three days.”

“Now don’t you drive when you’re sleepy. After all this time, I can wait one more day so you can get home safe.”

Always a mother.
“I know, Mom. I’ll be careful.”

Her mother sniffled. “How’d Jeremy die?”

The scene on the bridge flashed through her mind. She shuddered. “A… a friend saved me from getting kidnapped. It’s a long story. I’ll tell everyone when I get home.”

“Okay, sweetie. We’ll have a big party on Wednesday, after you rest up a day, with grilled steaks and corn and baked potatoes. I’m gonna invite everyone.”

Amber blinked back tears. “A party Wednesday sounds great, Mom, but mostly I want to spend some time with you and Dad.”

“I’m glad you said that. I feel the same way. We have so much catching up to do.”

She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and glanced at Ben, who sat stoically on the couch next to her. “I need to go, Mom. I’ll call again before I head out Saturday. Give my love to Dad.”

“Okay. I can’t wait to phone everyone I know and give them the good news.”

After a tearful good-bye, she disconnected. The next farewell in her future would be much harder.

* * *

Friday morning, Amber awoke to the smell of coffee. She opened her eyes to find Ben, wearing only his boxer briefs, standing beside the bed and holding two cups of steaming brew.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No problem.” She glanced at the alarm clock and laughed. “It’s almost eleven. I can’t remember when I’ve slept this late.”

“You were exhausted last night.”

She sat up and scooted back against the headboard before accepting the cup. “Yeah. But I have so much to get done today. Packing. Giving notice. Saying good-bye at SDSA. Forwarding my…” Her voice trailed off. “Lots of stuff.” She gulped the coffee to avoid looking at him.

“I bought you something,” he said abruptly.

“You shouldn’t have. I don’t have anything for you.” A sharp pain stabbed her chest.
I already gave you my heart. What more is there?
“When in the world have you had time to go shopping?”

“Last night while you were sleeping. Thank God for the Internet.”

Smiling, he opened the nightstand drawer and handed her a plain, white envelope.

Okay, so it’s not a tiny velvet box. What was I thinking?

“Oh, thank you, Ben. I need this. One can’t have too many envelopes.”

“Funny. Open it.”

Tamping down her irrational disappointment, she pulled out three sheets of paper. With tears threatening, she scanned across the first page. Airline reservation in her name. San Diego to Kansas City for Tuesday. She blinked and flipped the page. Another plane reservation. Kansas City to San Diego. Two weeks later. Third page, a rental car reservation.

“I’m c-confused,” she stammered.

He took the papers and laid them on the bed. Clasping her hands in his, he held her gaze, the intense blue of his eyes irresistible as always.

“I understand you need to see your family, but I don’t want you to leave… permanently. Come back to me.”

She swallowed hard. Her vision blurred. “But I—”

He put his index finger to her lips. “Something’s happening between us, Amber. Something good. Don’t you feel it?”

She drew a tremulous breath. “Yeah. What do you think it is?”

He grinned. “You’re not gonna let me off easy?”

“No way.”

“You’re gonna make me say it?”

“Yep.”

“You know, it’s harder for a guy.”

“Therefore, it means more.”

“Good point.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m…” He placed a butterfly kiss on her left eyelid. “… falling…” Repeated it on the right. “… in…” Planted one on the tip of her nose. “… love…” Kissed her left cheek. “… with…” And her right. “… you.”

Happiness swelled inside for the first time in more than two years. “I love you too, Ben.”

Please see the next page for a preview of
Targeted

Night had fallen when Samir parked the truck in front of the dilapidated house in the drug-infested Tijuana slum. Once he killed the headlights, the moon provided the only illumination along the crumbling asphalt road. Wedged between Samir and Omar on the seat, Marissa Panuska scanned the neighborhood of decaying buildings, hoping to catch a reassuring glimpse of the two agents who were out there—somewhere—following her, watching her back.

On five previous occasions, the terrorists had brought her to their hideout in Mexico, just across the border from San Diego. Marauding drug gangs ruled the area where crackling gunfire was as common as barking dogs. The constant smell of weed permeated the air and stung her nostrils. The residents were rarely visible, preferring relative safety behind walls.

Marissa’s gaze swept over the run-down house, checking for any signs of change or trouble. Boards protected the windows from prying eyes, and a padlock secured the door against thieves. The electrical connection dangling from the sagging overhead lines was one of the few in the slum, and the satellite phone antenna on the roof was definitely unique.

After an anxious look around, Omar jumped out to unlock the door before all three darted inside. Samir switched on the lamp that sat on the floor by the door. Ignoring the stench, they hurried past the bedroom and the barely functioning bathroom on the left. A narrow archway separated the front room from the larger back room, which included a rudimentary kitchen along one wall. The furnishings consisted of six metal folding chairs, a wooden table, and three tall lamps. A new box of electronic parts had been added to the growing number already lined up near the rear door. The place was filthy, but no one cared.

The stifling heat in the closed-up house stole Marissa’s breath. Sweat dampened her skin beneath the long, black abaya and niqab, the Muslim robe and veil she wore over her other clothes. While the men turned on the lights, she sank onto one of the flimsy chairs, morbidly wondering if she was more likely to die from heatstroke than at the hands of the terrorists.

Holding the niqab away from her face, she drew slow, deep breaths and grimaced at the pain in her lungs and stomach. The stress of impersonating Baheera Abbas, of pretending to be the female terrorist previously unknown to the US intelligence community, gnawed at Marissa’s nerves. If only she could determine Baheera’s role in the planned attack, she might be able to finish the covert operation, might be able to survive. Every passing minute held the threat of discovery and diminished that possibility.

Marissa wiped the sweat from her face and watched the two men admire the swordlike knife Samir had purchased in a shop along Avenida Revolución on their way through Tijuana. On previous visits, Samir’s first priority had been to unlock the metal gun cabinet bolted to the floor in the bedroom closet and to confirm the delivery of additional bomb components. But tonight, the sleeper cell’s leader and Omar were distracted by the massive blade, which they took turns brandishing menacingly at each other.

The satellite phone that never left Samir’s sight lay on the table. The phone represented the cell’s umbilical cord to the Middle East, the only method of communication between the terrorists here and those at home. Homeland Security couldn’t fathom why just one means of contact existed, why no alternate options were in place. They suspected the men in charge didn’t trust anyone except Samir and wanted to minimize the risk of the plot being traced back to the source. Unable to determine the terrorists’ reasons, US officials decided the terrorist mind was impossible to comprehend and worked to exploit the obvious weakness in the cell’s strategy. The Bureau and other government agencies had simply taken advantage of the situation and monitored the terrorists’ calls with ease.

Until two weeks ago, Marissa had been one of the agents monitoring those calls, listening to and translating many long-distance conversations between Samir and his bosses. Discovering the true identities of the people had been a frustrating, and often futile, process. No one used a last name, and even the first names were suspect as they were frequently aliases. Husaam was the name used by the man who seemed to be at the top, but the common Arab name made it impossible to positively identify or trace him.

The sat phone’s ring interrupted Marissa’s thoughts.

Everyone froze.

Samir shot it a startled glance. The call seemed to confuse him for a moment, suggesting he didn’t expect to be contacted tonight. He grabbed the phone, answering warily in Arabic. His face tensed, and his tone turned respectful when he launched into a detailed status report. As usual, he lowered his voice and walked into the front room so neither Omar nor Marissa could hear.

She prayed that someone in Washington was listening.

Five minutes later, wearing a Cheshire cat grin, Samir strolled back through the doorway and held out the phone to her. Her stomach knotted. Only Samir talked on the sat phone.

Saying nothing, he thrust it at her again.

Hesitantly, she put the phone to her ear and spoke in precise Arabic. “
Allahu Akbar
.”

The man on the phone greeted her affectionately—as his wife. Marissa held back a gasp while her mind raced. After only a few words, she recognized the voice of the one who called himself Husaam. The passport of the female terrorist whose identity she had assumed read Baheera Abbas. But no one knew if the name was real or fake. If Baheera Abbas was her true identity, was she really the wife of Husaam… Abbas? Marissa almost dropped the phone. Could she be talking to
the
Husaam Abbas, leader of al-Qaeda in Syria?

Fighting to steady her voice, she responded briefly to his endearments, expecting with each word for him to realize hers was not his wife’s voice. But the conversation continued and turned serious.

“Baheera, have you seen the doctor?” Husaam asked.

Doctor? What doctor? Damn. No one briefed me on anything about a doctor.
Marissa stalled. “The phone reception is bad. I cannot hear you.”

“The doctor. Have you seen the doctor?” he repeated loudly.

“No, Husaam, not yet.” She swallowed hard.

A grunt communicated his impatience and displeasure even before he spoke. “You were told to see the doctor immediately. You have not followed orders, Baheera. Why have you disobeyed me?”

Oh God, why would the real Baheera not go to the doctor? Think. Think!

“I am afraid,” the fake Baheera guessed.

“Do not delay any longer. It could be dangerous. Take care of it tomorrow. You must obey me,” he snapped.

He paused and then said something she couldn’t translate. A private joke or maybe a nickname. She sensed he was waiting for a specific response.

“I cannot hear you, Husaam,” she shouted.

A longer silence this time. Longer… and ominous. Despite the heat, a violent shiver shook her.

“The children send their love. They are asking for their mother. Would you like to give me a message for them?” he asked in a booming voice.

“I love them and miss them so much. Reassure them that I will be home as soon as—”

“Samir,” Husaam yelled. “Get Samir!”

Marissa offered a parting endearment. There was no response.
What just happened? Damn. Something’s wrong, terribly wrong. Oh God, does Husaam know?

Instinctively, she assessed the situation in a heartbeat and knew she had to escape. Omar had stepped out the back door to seek relief from the heat inside the house. Samir slouched on one of the metal chairs, twirling the knife and scrutinizing her with his dark, beady eyes. Her gaze darted across the room to her purse, then back to him. Panic gripped her when she realized she couldn’t grab the purse containing her concealed Glock.

She started to turn off the phone, but stopped. That action would definitely make Samir suspicious, so she simply disconnected the call instead. Heart pounding, she set the phone on the table with trembling fingers.

“I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” Marissa called over her shoulder, hurrying through the archway. She jumped when the sat phone rang, and flinched when Samir’s chair scraped as he stood up. After yanking the bathroom door shut loudly as a decoy, she rushed to the front door. She stepped out into the night and closed the door silently behind her.

Deciding the men would search for her on the roads leading back to the border crossing, she ran in the opposite direction. She sprinted down the narrow street, glancing from side to side, searching for the agents who always tailed her.
Where are they?

Her
abaya
tangled between her legs and almost tripped her. Her feet stumbled on the broken chunks of asphalt. As she fought to draw air into her laboring lungs, she clutched the
niqab
clinging to her gaping mouth and pushed the fabric back over her head.

She gave up hope of finding her backup agents and banged on doors. But none opened.

Minutes later, shouting obscenities, Samir and Omar flew out of the house and into the street.

Marissa slipped around the corner of the nearest building and held her breath. She inched backward. When her foot came down on the paw of a dog sleeping against the wall, the mutt yelped and sprang to its feet. It growled, and then barked ferociously.

“Hush. No bark. Quiet,” she scolded in Spanish to no avail.

She scooted back to the corner and peered down the road. As she had anticipated, the men were searching for her in the direction of the border crossing. But hearing the barking, they stopped, turned, and raced back in her direction. Marissa spun around, ran several steps, and stopped with a gasp.

The short alley was a dead end. And she couldn’t return to the road because Samir and Omar would see her.

Trapped.

With the dog biting at her heels, she tried to pry open the door of the building on the right side of the alley. The door refused to budge. Rushing across to the other building, she slammed both hands into the door. It shuddered open a crack. She rammed her shoulder into the wood, and the door gave way. Ignoring the pain shooting through her arm, she swung inside the abandoned building, pushed the dog back outside with her foot, and shoved the door shut.

Minimal moonlight filtered in through the dirty, broken windows. She strained to see as she felt along the grimy walls until she found a doorway. Repeating the pattern, she worked her way back through six rooms.
Where’s another exit? There can’t be only one.

The dog’s blood-curdling yelp stopped her in her tracks.
Oh God. Samir’s knife
.

When the two terrorists shouted and barged into the building, Marissa slipped into another room and flattened herself against the wall beside the door. Her eyes desperately sought a way out. No more doors. Only two windows, four feet above the floor, shattered in the center. Could she dive through one without ripping herself open? Was there time?

Not bothering with stealth, the men cursed as they separated and searched, room by room. Closer and closer. When Omar stepped through the doorway, Marissa slammed the door into his face, her bulky clothes hampering her efforts.

She dashed toward the windows, but Omar recovered before she reached them. Grabbing her
abaya
from behind, he yelled to Samir. Viciously, he kicked the backs of her legs, buckling her knees.

She collapsed to the floor.

Samir charged through the doorway, brandishing the knife in front of him.

As she scrambled up onto her hands and knees, Omar yanked off the veil. He clutched handfuls of her long hair, exposing the back of her neck and dragging her forward. She cursed and clawed at her attackers, but both stayed just out of reach.

Samir grunted as he raised the massive knife high over her neck.

“Benja!
Miláčku
,” Marissa screamed.