Ignited (Titanium Security Series) (21 page)

“Kind of looks like Pakistan,” Hunter commented, pulling back to angle his head. Although other than the basic shape of it, the remaining marks and blurry symbols didn’t make any sense to him. “Tom, you said they sent this through the company’s website contact form?”

“Yeah, about twenty minutes ago. They included a number for you to call them at when you arrive at the location.”

The one marked with a big star. He glanced at Khalia, who was chewing her bottom lip as she studied the screen. “Any ideas?”

She shook her head, still staring, and he turned his attention to Gage, who gave him a
hell if I know
look. “Any Urdu or Pashto in there?” Hunter asked him, referring to what might be writing or symbols on the map.

“Not that I can tell,” Gage answered, bending even closer. “Numbers maybe? The writing’s fucking awful.”

“I think it’s a triangle,” Khalia suddenly murmured. All three of them bent their heads closer to squint at the map and the lines set amid the other symbols.

“I see it,” Hunter said at last, mentally connecting the three biggest dots. “What are those down at the bottom, numbers?”

Khalia enlarged the image again to read them better despite the blur, and gasped a moment later. “It’s trig.”

“Huh?” he asked, squinting at the numbers. As in, trigonometry?

“And algebra,” she confirmed, sounding convinced. “They’ve given me the distance between two points on the map and the degrees of this angle…” She muttered something else to herself then nodded. “It’s a math problem to calculate the length of this line.” Her finger traced a route from a dot in the middle of the map to the star on the left.

Holy shit, it really was trig.

She pointed to another line running west/northwest from a dot on the right, her lips moving as she took in all the info. “Give me a sec.”

Rummaging through her laptop case she came up with a scientific calculator and began plugging in numbers, mumbling about sines and tangents. Hunter was no slouch with math but she was too quick for him to follow as she punched various figures into the calculator. “It’s one hundred forty-four from this point to this one,” she announced, tapping the screen and looking up at him expectantly.

“A hundred and forty-four what? What kind of measurement?” Gage asked, scooting closer to get a better look.

“Klicks,” Hunter answered, heart suddenly beating faster as everything clicked into place.

The others looked up at him expectantly, hoping he’d cracked it.

“If this is Pakistan, where would this point be?” he asked Gage, pointing to the dot on the right.

Gage studied it for a second, frowning as though he wasn’t convinced the image even was a map of Pakistan. “Islamabad, most likely.”

Hunter nodded. “So what’s a hundred and forty four klicks almost due west of here?”

“Peshawar,” Gage said, sounding surprised and a little impressed.

“Yeah, and that means we’re running short on time.” Hunter sat back, mind whirling. Whoever had sent this knew Khalia was a math teacher. And they were smart enough to include exactly enough information for her to figure out the puzzle. “This is way too advanced for a Taliban spokesperson,” he said to no one in particular.

Tom’s sigh came through the speaker phone. “It’s from someone working for them. I’d guess someone with a college degree.”

Khalia glanced up at Hunter. “The go-between for the Taliban and the Pakistani official the State Department told me about?”

He took her hand again and stroked his thumb across her cold knuckles, trying to ease the anxiety he sensed in her. “Not sure, but they were specifically targeting you with this. And we’ll have barely enough time to get there even if we leave right now.” Each passing second wound him tighter inside. These assholes were part of the cell responsible for Khalia’s father’s death and the subsequent riots that had led to Scottie’s death. Hunter wanted them taken out. If that meant having to take Khalia along to draw them out of hiding, he’d do it as long as he could be there to guarantee her safety and make sure she didn’t get too close.

“Can we bring backup to this meeting?” he asked Tom.

“Negative, they were very clear that it has to be just Khalia and one other person to the final destination. I’m designating you, and the others will go as backup. When you hit the outskirts of Pesh, call the contact number. They’ve threatened to kill the hostages if local authorities get involved. All we need is their location. The Paks will handle the rest. I’ve already been in contact with them. SWAT team is on standby, waiting for word from us.”

There were a lot of things Hunter had to say about that, and he couldn’t say any of them in front of Khalia without freaking her out even more. Though she had to realize by now how corrupt things were over here. “So how are you going to keep them out of it?” Anyone from the police to the ISI could be involved in this plot.

“Can’t, because they’re already working on it. I’ll update them again when you make contact with the hostage takers in Pesh. With all the international pressure on them about the wave of riots and now the school attack, the Paks are desperate to break up this cell. Just get us the location, then get out.”

Meaning Tom had already been getting pressure from the ISI for intel about this cell and if he wanted Titanium Security to keep operating in country, he had to comply no matter what the risks were. “That’s how it is?”

“Unfortunately, yeah.”

Wait, so they were all fine with using Khalia as fucking
bait
? Taking her to Pesh to make the call and make everything look legit was one thing. Expecting her to go with him and verify the actual address was quite another.

Hunter set his jaw, the protective male in him rejecting the idea outright. She wasn’t just a fucking Principal to him anymore. He
cared
about her, more than he’d ever thought possible in such a short amount of time, and he wanted to shelter her from any more danger or ugliness. But damn, what if she was their only shot at nailing this cell?

He struggled to let the hardened professional side of him take over, mind racing. “Even if they can’t go in with us, I’ll need the rest of the team close by for intel and backup.”

“Damn straight. They’ll go along and hang back at a spot you designate until you get a hard location. Once you verify it, you pull Khalia out and get out of town,” Tom said.

Good, because under the circumstances Hunter wouldn’t have allowed anyone but him to take her into Peshawar, and he had no intention of letting her anywhere near the meeting location, no matter what Tom or anyone in the ISI wanted. But could she withstand this?

He searched her face, read the apprehension in her pale green eyes. This was asking more of her than anyone had a right to. He knew she realized that this was so much bigger than her. That this might not only save the lives of the hostages, but take out the cell that had attacked the school and murdered her father.

 “Can you do this?” he asked her, feeling torn. Part of him wanted her to say no, refuse outright. But another part wanted these fuckers caught and dispatched to hell where they belonged, and right now she was their best shot at making that happen. She wanted it too. He could see the vengeance burning in her eyes.

“These are the men who killed my father?” she asked, looking for reassurance.

“Yes,” he and Tom said at the same time.

She swallowed, her eyes searching his as if for guidance. “If I don’t go they’ll kill the hostages, right?”

“Most likely,” Tom answered for him. “We don’t have much time for you to make up your mind. Best start heading there before we lose any more leeway. As soon as we get off the phone, Gage and I’ll contact the State Department and anyone else I think is necessary.”

“What about the police?” Khalia asked. “How are we going to keep them from tipping off the kidnappers with their own investigation?”

Tom spoke up again. “Don’t worry about all that. Gage and I’ll handle everything while you’re en route. You going?”

Hunter watched Khalia wrestle silently with her decision. He empathized with her position. Until ten minutes ago she thought she’d be on a flight home in a few hours. Now the responsibility of innocent lives had been dumped straight into her hands, but more than that she now had the chance to personally help bring her father’s murderers to justice. The possibility of the hostages being Aisha and her family, or any other family from the school would eat her alive with guilt. All of that combined was one hell of a motivating force, even for an untrained civilian.

“No one here’s going to judge you for not going if that’s what you decide,” he said quietly, needing her to believe him, his conscience forcing him to give her an out. As much as he dreaded the thought of her leaving him in the morning, he hated the idea of her being in further danger. Yeah, he was good at his job, but even he couldn’t guarantee her safety if they did this. Going into Pesh blind with no immediate backup was a huge risk. And yet he still wanted the cell enough for her to do this and trust in him to watch her back. What the fuck did that say about him?

“It’s my fault,” she whispered tightly, her face stricken. “They want me and now they’re threatening more innocent people to draw me out.”

“It’s
not
your fault. And they’re not going to get you,” Hunter said fiercely, gripping her shoulder. “You think I’d let you go near wherever the meeting point is when we’ve got a confirmed threat against your life? No way.” It pissed him off that she’d even think it.

“Then what are we going to do? Call the kidnappers and wander around the city until we find them?”

“Once we get an address, we’ll get close enough for me to verify the location and let the locals do their thing. Tom and Gage will work out the logistics while we drive.”

Pulling free of his grip, she took a shaky breath and stood, resolve stamped all over her expression as she faced him and Gage. “I want this cell destroyed. I want them to pay for what they did to my father and everything else.”

“I know you do.” They all wanted the cell eliminated. The reasons didn’t matter now; they were united in the cause.

She gave a decisive nod. “Let’s go.”

“Roger that. Tom, we’re on our way.” He didn’t ask her if she was sure or give her a chance to hesitate. If he did she might second guess herself and every minute spent here cost them. As it was they’d have to haul ass to get to Pesh by the deadline.

Gage left to get his own gear together. Hunter put on his tactical vest and grabbed his weapons while Khalia changed in the bathroom. Less than a minute later she reappeared in the black robe with a scarf covering her dark curls. Her face was pale but her eyes burned with conviction.

Hold that thought, sweetheart.
She was going to need every last bit of the fire burning in her gut to see this through. Shit he admired her. He held out another vest for her. “Put this on under your robe.”

She did, paling a little at the stark reminder of the danger ahead. Wrapping his fingers around hers when she finished, he squeezed tight in reassurance and led her out to the parking lot. Ellis and Dunphy were already standing next to the first of the two SUVs, both engines running.

“Gage brought us up to speed. We following you?” Ellis asked.

“With Gage, and just until we hit the outskirts of Pesh,” Hunter answered. “No idea what’s going to happen once we call the number we were given, but once we reach the city hang back until I contact you. We’ve got…” He checked his watch. “One hour sixteen minutes to get there. Tom will keep you updated if I can’t.”

With that he ushered Khalia around to the passenger side then came back to slide behind the wheel. Gage burst out of the hotel’s front door and jumped into the other SUV just as Hunter pulled away from the curb. “Gage, you read me?” he asked, checking the radio link.

“Loud and clear,” he responded in Hunter’s earpiece.