SATURDAY. ERBIL, KURDISTAN.MARK TOSSED HIS HELMET down into the floor board. Hours of driving aimlessly were doing nothing but burning fuel. He needed a solution. The bitch couldn't have vanished. People didn't teleport. She was in Erbil somewhere and he'd find her.He glanced at the time.It could be worth trying again.He pulled into a parking lot and scrolled back down through his contacts. Over the years he'd cultivated favors from a lot of people for a variety of reasons. Even if it was to just have someone in his debt. Out here, a favor could go a long way at the right moment.Kurdistan was different from the world surrounding it. It was heavily guarded, and the military took even the most routine check-point sweep seriously. Which meant there was a real-time record of when people crossed the city and where they were going. Getting access to that data was near impossible. Without the right connection.Mark pressed dial once more and listened to the phone ring.H
SUNDAY, BEST INN, ERBIL, KURDISTAN.THOMAS EYED HIS CARDS and then the pile of money sitting in the middle of the table. It wasn't much, mostly some coins and a few bills, but it was the biggest pot they'd had all morning."Come on, you guys aren't really going to let me take this?" Vaughn thumbed at the pot of money."You don't have shit," Nolan said without missing a beat."You don't know that." Vaughn grinned.Thomas was ready to put a bullet in both men's skulls. Their constant banter grated on his nerves. They wouldn't stop talking, and yet they never said anything useful. Nothing at all about what they were doing to find Erin Lopez or what their next move was beyond lying low at the hotel.For all he knew, the fifth team member had absconded with Erin and was out of the country already, which would mean they knew where Thomas' loyalty lay and what he'd been doing here all along.He eased back in his chair, slouching a bit, as though he could fall under their rada
Thomas was screwed."Bam! What I tell you? Read em and weep, girls." Vaughn stood and displayed his cards.Brenden and Nolan groaned while the other man gloated about his nickel-and-dime victory."Come on, let's pack it up," Nolan said."I got this. You guys go grab your bags." Vaughn scooped up the money and cards."You good to go in a few?" Nolan asked Thomas on his way to the door."Yup." Thomas had a small bag he'd as soon ditch as keep."Let's try to be out of here in five," Nolan suggested."It might take me more time to count my winnings," Vaughn said."You don't have enough fingers and toes for that." Nolan flipped Vaughn off, then ducked through the doorway into the adjoining room.Close to ten minutes later everyone was packed and downstairs. Thomas tried to play it cool, to not let on that in minutes they could be putting an end to the biggest threat to his personal security. With any luck, Mark and another team would beat them to Erin's house, get her,
SUNDAY. ERBIL ROTANA, ERBIL, KURDISTAN.ERIN TWISTED THE LONG sleeves around and around until the fabric created a vice on her forearm."Anything yet?" she asked."Nope, and they aren't going to contact us until we tell them it's time for the pickup." Riley was cool as could be. Not even the least bit phased with the knowledge that they'd been carting the enemy around with them."I don't understand how you're so calm." She turned around as though she could discern if any of the vehicles were following them. That wasn't her skill set. It wasn't like a vehicle would have a sign on it that said I'm following you."Off the record?" He glanced at her. "We did a job a couple months back where we had the guy who'd kidnapped our asset with us the whole time. We didn't suspect it. This time? I think we all had reservations about Thomas.""What happened? On that op?""That's a long story." He shook his head and chuckled. She guessed that it worked out okay, but the between bits
Erin carefully controlled her reaction.No wonder the head office wanted her to skip the office and head straight home. They weren't admitting the attack even happened.Riley nudged her. Erin glanced at him, then back to Lilan before clearing her throat."I think we got ahead of ourselves and the facility isn't ready yet." Erin clasped her hands in front of her, hating the lie.It was crazy to think that a facility had been partially blown up, and no one knew."Sad to hear that." Lilan sighed."Hey, it was good to see you. I'm heading home, family emergency and all, so we'll have to schedule a time to talk later, okay?" Erin sidestepped the women and set her eyes on the security office sign.Riley kept pace with her. She could feel him staring. Did he get it? Had he thought through the implications of what'd been said?Erin pulled herself together enough to handle the key request. Riley was signed in as her guest. A Ruddy Brothers Security guy escorted them up to her of
RILEY WAS USELESS. THE remainder of the files weren't in English. All he was good for was shuffling stacks, manning the overflowing box and keeping an eye on the time.He wished there was something else he could do. The more Erin pored over the backlog of things in her office, the deeper the lines across her brow and around her mouth became. He was powerless to lift the fog of sadness settling around her. He didn't know what conclusions she was coming to, but they were breaking her world.His phone vibrated, signaling their time was up.With any luck Grant and the others had Thomas by the balls and they'd get more answers that way. If not, they'd complete their mission and get Erin home. "Erin? Hey, we need to go." Riley reached across the desk and grabbed her hand."I'm missing something. It has to be here, but all I'm seeing is..." She slumped in her chair and sighed."We have to go.""I know." She placed the stack in her lap on the desk and glanced around the office.
SUNDAY. NEXGEN OFFICES, ERBIL, KURDISTAN.HEADERHERE.ERIN COULDN'T BREATHE. EVERYTHING hurt."Riley?" She rolled and pain shot up her spine.That wasn't good."Erin? Erin!" He shouted her name, grasping for her."I'm right here." She grabbed his hand and squeezed.The other SUV shielded them, but for how long? Would the sniper reposition and fire again?"Erin?" Riley rolled toward her.She stared down at his body, bracing herself for the worst, but there was no blood.He wasn't bleeding.She'd heard the shot, felt the air displaced by the bullet. God, she'd just known he was dead. She pushed up to her knees, her bones screaming in agony, and cupped his face."You're okay," she shouted. Whatever had knocked him off his feet, it hadn't signed his death warrant.Movement from the parking lot caught her eye. Two white men in plain clothes carrying guns was by no means a normal sight. She doubted they were with Ruddy Brothers Security.Erin snatched Riley's side
"GOD DAMN IT." MARK hurled his phone out the window.They couldn't get to her now.If it weren't for that damn box or those men or the SUV or any number of things that were going wrong-this would be over with. Now, Erin Lopez and the rest were in custody. He wouldn't be able to get to them unless they were charged, and he doubted that. NexGen wanted her out of the way, somewhere she couldn't stir the pot, which meant she was bound for America."Sir?""What?" Mark whirled toward the man."No one has seen or heard from Thomas, so I checked with our local law enforcement contact, and it appears he was arrested at Erin Lopez's home."Mark closed his eyes.Another fucking thing going wrong.Should he cut his losses?He could cut his ties with America, wash his hands of the Middle East and go somewhere else. Couldn't he? Not if the video got leaked. The list of places he could go to hide out for the rest of his miserable life would be short if the American government wanted