VARA STROLLED ALONG THE gravel boulevard leading toward the reflecting pool. The last summer blooms perfumed the air. The horizon was highlighted, heralding the new day. People hustled home or to work from the pre-dawn prayer, consumed with the day to come.That was why Vara liked this time of day. People didn't pay her much mind. She was just another figure in the rush.Only this morning she wasn't.Tension knotted her shoulders.She'd slept, but only in fits. Memories kept waking her. Stolen moments with Alec at the embassy. Highlights of their trip.There'd been years since their fling, and yet Vara's body remembered his touch as though they'd been together last week or last month.It wasn't fair. But she couldn't choose who she fell in love with. She just had to deal with it.The walk was good for her. Stretching her legs and breathing in the bite in the morning air helped bring her mind around to right now. She slowed as she reached the reflection pool and turned to look at
SHE WAS GONE.Alec had known that the moment he stirred from sleep. It was just a feeling. An awareness of her that was hard-coded into his system, and she was not in the house. He'd gone to check right as the call for morning prayer sounded over the city. Her cold sheets were a testament to her having been gone a while.He hadn't noticed her leaving.Now here he was, almost two hours later, still watching the street.Jules could hardly move. Yesterday had taken a toll on her body and she was currently curled up in bed hugging the hot water bottles he'd found in the kitchen. He didn't think he could move her on his own. Not without a plan or backup or something.He couldn't believe Vara had left them without a note or any kind of warning especially since she knew the kind of danger they were in. Maybe she really was a cold-hearted smuggler. He'd thought she couldn't have changed all that much, but he was beginning to accept that he was wrong. Could she be setting them up? Selling
I MISSED YOU.Two hours later and those three words were still playing through Vara's head.They'd found a café not far from the spot where she was scheduled to meet with Djinn and were currently doing a great job of not looking at each other.She found it hard to believe Alec had thought twice about her since their fling. She'd been a diversion, just like her mother had said. What kind of man thought about a kid he'd met years ago and only knew for a few months?That was crazy.Then why was he still the man by which she measured all others?The few relationships she'd had were all failed from the start. Even her longest relationship. The only reason she'd dated the attaché guy working for the ambassador was because their schedules barely aligned. It was easy to string that out when they barely saw each other, but eventually she'd faced the facts. He didn't make her feel the way Alec had. So she'd given up on men in general save for a pleasurable distraction here and there. Inste
ALEC HAD HOPED FOR more of a head start. The enforcers were faster than their size had led him to believe. His arms pumped at his sides. He cut across another street, barreling past onlookers. The police or military were going to be on them soon. Vara had told him response times were getting shorter.There wasn't anywhere to lose these guys and Alec wasn't willing to endanger civilians. He couldn't allow himself to get captured by the authorities. His documents wouldn't hold up and there was no way he could explain his weapon. He had to lose these guys or fight them, and he didn't like the two-to-one odds."Move," he snapped at two boys rounding the corner ahead of himAlec grabbed the light pole and used it to keep his momentum going, launching him left then darting across the street in a break between cars. His feet hit the sidewalk, and he glanced over his shoulder at the two men still in pursuit.Did they think he was the hacker? Had they fooled them?One of the enforcers went
THIS WAS ALL WRONG. It couldn't be happening.Vara was prepared for the Russians to go after her. She'd known she was at risk from both the Syrian government and rebel groups should anyone connect her to the CIA.The last thing she'd expected was for her own people-other Americans-to turn on her.She stared across the truck at Wyatt, who wouldn't look at her. Because he knew he was a traitor? If not to his country then to her. The person who'd gone to bat for him, who'd given him a job who'd been on his side. What was that worth these days? Clearly nothing.The truck came to a stop inside Rafat's warehouse and both she and Alec were guided out to stand in the loading area at the very back of the building up against a wall. Rafat's other men drew away from them, giving them a wide berth."What the hell?" Vara whispered, still staring at Wyatt.Wyatt continued to look elsewhere. At Alec. At Rafat's men. His gun. He finally glanced down the long hall that led toward Rafat's ground f
ALEC WAS WILLING TO bet that not all of Vara's latest recruits were honest about their training. Not a one had searched them or divested them of weapons, save for their guns. They hadn't checked Vara's bag or made more than a cursory search of their captives. If they were soldiers worth their salt, they'd know a trained man was far more dangerous than a bullet.Rafat Nour's people were even less careful.The thing not on Alec's side in the current confrontation were numbers.Four on two weren't good odds, but Alec was willing to bet that he and Vara were better trained than these kids for exactly this scenario. He didn't know if he could rely on Jules to play along. After so many years in captivity, what did they really know about her? Would she cave from fear? Or did she want her freedom as bad as Alec and Vara?Alec needed the four guys to divide their attention, and he needed his hands free.He took a few steps away from Vara. He'd need room to work and the further apart they w
VARA GRIPPED THE WHEEL, grateful for these moments alone. She'd always known an end was coming. She wasn't going to live in Syria. This wasn't her home. But she hadn't been prepared to leave. There were people who depended on her routes for medicine and goods at a fair price.Where would they get what they needed from now on?What about the women Vara helped? The ones she got to safety? Who would help them?Wyatt's betrayal hurt, but not as bad as she'd expected it might. Deep down she'd always known she could never fully trust the men she employed. Today only proved that her gut was right."Fuck, fuck, fuck," she muttered under her breath.Her men.She needed to call her other team still in Lebanon.Vara pulled out the phone she'd slipped from their captive before Alec had booted him out the truck. She dialed the number by memory and pressed it to her ear.It rang several times."Hello?" a man answered."It's Vara." Her voice was cold. She had to be."Hey, boss lady." The m
VARA HOBBLED OFF THE plane, the bag with Djinn's package clutched to her chest. Vara's limbs and muscles protested the movement after being tensed for so long as she held on for dear life. That flight would go down in history as one of the worst she could remember.Alec was already at the passenger seat, helping Jules stretch her legs. If Vara was in bad shape Jules had to be in agony.A hand grasped Vara's sleeve.She turned toward the woman she'd only known as Djinn.The woman was so petite she swam in her clothes. Her hijab framed her face in a way that she seemed to be all eyes and frowns. But that appearance hid a sharp intellect and when she opened her mouth Vara knew Djinn wasn't Syrian born even if that was her heritage. Djinn was American."Hey," Vara said. Was she finally speaking to her?"You got it out?" Djinn stared at the bag clutched to Vara's side."Yes. It's safe." Vara patted the bag."Good. Their reach is farther than I realized. If you have to, destroy it. D