ALEC PULLED OUT A chair for Vara and held it while she sat with her coffee and bagel.The instructions for this morning had them meeting in the central command room. The space was the second secure room in the building, the other being Zain's personal office. From this room they could handle any number of sensitive tasks, like facial recognition and real-time digital tracking. But most of all, for this morning's purposes, their communication feed was encrypted. Someone was joining them remotely and Alec was curious who that person might be.Today was going to be a long day of figuring out how the hell they were going to handle this threat. Someone was after his girl and he wasn't going to let that happen on his watch.What was worse, there would be people out there who would think she was Djinn even once this blew over. That came with its own set of dangers they'd have to sort out.For now, the Russian mob boss and whatever the hell the Russian intelligence community was up to was
WYATT SLOWED, ALLOWING ANOTHER two vehicles between him and the SUV Vara was traveling in. This close to the residence she'd stayed in, it was safe to say she was going home for the night.They'd barely glimpsed her at all this morning and never once could Ivan or Wyatt get a clear shot."We should just take them all out. Tonight. While they're sleeping." Wyatt didn't care how much security the house had or how skilled the men were, a surprise attack in the dead of night was a good call."No," Ivan said."You want to keep following her around like this?" Wyatt shook his head. "Sending that guy after her on the plane was a bad move.""No one asked for your opinion." Ivan frowned at his phone."What was the point?""If you need me to spell it out for you-""I do," Wyatt snapped."She is afraid. She is making decisions out of fear," Ivan said slowly, as though he were talking to a child."You don't know Vara Price that well." Wyatt grit his teeth and pulled the car to a stop aro
ALEC CROSSED HIS ARMS over his chest and watched Paxton lace up his shoes."I'm leaving, dad. No need to make sure I get out in time." He pushed to his feet and flipped the hood of his sweatshirt up over his ball cap."And you're going to-""Dude, we all agreed to give you the run of the house today, get off my case, okay?" He grabbed the bag of workout gear and ambled toward the front door. "Have fun with your girlfriend."Alec remained standing in the arch until Paxton had locked the door from outside.Finally.Alec turned and strained to hear any movement from the bedroom. Carson had kept Vara up later than he'd realized chitchatting otherwise there was no way he'd have pulled this off. The guys were going to bust his nuts, but he didn't care.They had time to kill while waiting for the bad guys to take the bait and nowhere to go.He grabbed the plates from the oven, inhaling the aroma of the hot breakfast he'd made. It was a wonder Paxton or Silas hadn't stolen some.Alec
VARA PACED THE WIDTH of Alec's room while the two men yelled at each other.Her insides were molten hot, and it felt as though a swarm of hornets were stinging her nerves. Her chest was hot. Her legs were cold. Her head pounded. The smell of soap from the basket of clean laundry was nearly overpowering.He said he loved her.Alec loved her.She hadn't expected that.Stay in Seattle, do the relationship thing. Those she'd been expecting. But love?It wasn't just her. She wasn't the only one in love.They loved each other. What did that mean? What could it mean? How did this change their lives? What were they going to do with this knowledge? Why did she love him? Why this man?A dozen memories flitted through his brain.That laugh. The way he cared for her. His protective nature, not just for her but others. The way he threw himself into things. He'd sacrifice himself for others. He was selfless that way. Deep down, under that bravado, he was a decent, good man. When they were t
WYATT STARED OUT THE window at the city skyline. The weather had finally cleared. Water droplets traveled down the glass directed by gravity.Something was happening, and he didn't know what. He didn't like not knowing.Voices grew louder in the hall then faded. A door opened and shut. Someone turned on a TV and he could almost make out the lines.He lifted his phone and looked down at the texts from his mother and sisters.Damn the rest of his team.Why had they reached out to Wyatt's family? He didn't need his mother asking him where he was or worrying about him. This business would be over soon enough.More footsteps.Wyatt sat in the armchair, the lights off and listened.Find Vara. Kill Vara. Don't kill Vara.He was getting whiplash from the orders.Two shadows interrupted the line of light under his door. The lock beeped, and the door opened.Ivan's gaze found him immediately."Come on," he said.Wyatt didn't bother asking questions. It wasn't like they were going to
VARA'S RIBS HURT AND her knee throbbed. Neither had anything on the electrical burns searing her side.So much for avoiding electricity.Not long after they'd shoved her in the van one man had held her down while the other zapped her with God only knew how many volts.She'd passed out.Waking up wasn't any better, but with the bag over her head she could play possum.How long had they been driving? Where were they taking her? And what damage had the electrical charge done to the tracker?Her watch was gone and with it the secondary tracking device. The vest had been stripped off. She didn't feel the press of her phone and they'd removed her boots.It was probably a good bet to assume the microphone was gone as well. If the electrical shock had fried the tracker she was well and truly fucked. The van hit a pothole and her head banged on the floor. She sucked in a breath through her nose and caught the full smell of the cloth bag. It was an unholy combination of feet and rotten pr
FOUR HOURS AND TWENTY minutes.That was how long since Alec had lost sight of Vara. He couldn't help the clock counting it all down, knowing she could be dead already.Brett used his flashlight to signal Alec and Paxton from the side gate.Alec didn't want to trust Brett, but he'd proven adept at not only getting them a last minute flight to Portland, but at locating Vara's handler and ferreting out why the man was on this side of the country. The whole thing had Alec thinking there'd been eyes on Vara this whole time.Had they been bait all along?"Move." Paxton planted his hand on Alec's back and shoved him forward.Alec ignored the helping hand and picked up the pace.Brett was through the side gate of what he'd told them was a CIA safe house. They would have minimal time to access the house, grab Chad and get out before CIA muscle arrived. Normally Alec was the one doing the rescuing. Kidnapping wasn't a typical on the job activity, but they'd had a lot of weird shit going o
VARA COULDN'T FEEL HER toes. Her feet were completely numb. The blanket they'd given her upon arriving at their destination was practically a lap blanket. Her head was foggy from lack of sleep and the bone chilling weather. Her stomach growled for food. Her mouth was dry. About the only positive was that she was no longer restrained.The door to her room opened and Wyatt stood on the other side flanked by Ivan and tough guy she didn't recognize."What do you want?" She still couldn't wrap her head around Wyatt working with these guys."Come with us," he said."Why?""Because you don't have a choice. I also brought you these." Wyatt tossed a pair of ballet flats on the floor.They were a little worn, and she had to wonder where they'd come from. But Vara couldn't be picky. There were two things she needed if she was going to make it out of here, shoes and a coat. Here was half of that solution."How about some water or something to eat?" Vara crossed the room, the blanket wrapped