Cover of Darkness (20 page)

Cover of Darkness

by Kaylea Cross

the guy, that would add another wrinkle for him to worry about, and it might cause friction between McCabe and Ben.

Right on cue, Ben wrapped a brawny arm around her shoulders and urged her head down against him. Wonderful.

His background check showed Ben could be a bit of a hothead, and feeling territorial over Bryn with the second-in-command was not going to be a party. Maintaining his hold on her, Ben stared out the window, appearing completely at ease. Which was total bullshit.

Luke had seen the bottle of Tums on the bathroom vanity, and he was willing to bet they weren't there because Ben liked the taste. He was quietly freaking over Bryn's involvement. Hopefully he'd learned how to control his emotions a little better since he'd left the Ranger Corps. If he got lost in a testosterone haze, Luke would have no choice but to step in.

But Bryn was a big girl, and she could choose who she wanted. Not that she and the SEAL lieutenant was a sure thing, anyhow. McCabe seemed to be controlled and professional. Luke couldn't imagine him getting involved with Bryn while she was their principal. He was damn sure the SEAL wouldn't relax his code of conduct just because he wasn't subject to the same rigid rules and regulations that would have applied in a regular military operation.

Keeping his thoughts to himself, he sipped the travel mug full of coffee and analyzed this cozy love triangle, still in its infancy. He stole a glance at Rhys in the rearview mirror, folded in the back seat watching the scenery pass out his window. He was a quiet guy, methodical and controlled. His 186

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superiors in Delta said he never got rattled, could always be counted on when things got tough. The rock of his team. He might seem aloof, but he was solid and didn't miss a thing.

Luke could almost hear the guy's brain humming from the front seat. Sometimes quiet was a blessing. Keeping your mouth shut and your eyes open was the best way to stay alive in this business. All the time others spent blabbing you could put to better use and study everything that went on around you. It had saved his own ass more than a handful of times.

Maybe Rhys' calm would rub off on his brother and ease Ben's anxieties about Bryn. They'd worked well together so far. Maybe they played off each other, like yin and yang. Rhys throttled Ben back, and Ben in turn fired him up. Whatever.

Luke would have to see how it went. If Ben couldn't keep it together, he and Rhys were going to have to knock his ass back in line.

By the time they reached Damascus and checked into their hotel, Bryn looked ready to drop. Dec convinced her to grab some more sleep while the Sinclair twins headed out for a reconnaissance op. Luke was out with Davis, who'd come from Baghdad to meet with their informant.

Bryn's skin seemed pale to the point of translucency, dark circles beneath her obsidian eyes. So beautiful, though.

Strong and valiant, yet vulnerable at the same time. He wanted to gather her close and hold her, stroke her long, shiny hair until she drifted off. But her dark eyes tracked him, uncertainty in their depths. What, did she think he was going 187

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to make a move on her because they were alone? He tried not to be insulted.

Dec hunkered down in front of her, and the catch in her breath when he took her hands made him look up into her face. The flare of heat in her gaze clenched his belly.

"You're exhausted. At least try to rest," he said, trying to distract his body from the hunger he sensed in her. He'd never spent so much time trying to get a woman into bed, and with Bryn, only to force her to rest. His hand twitched, wanting to touch her.

"Okay."

Her lashes were so long they touched the base of her eyebrows, and formed thick crescents over her creamy skin when she closed her eyes. A heavy sigh escaped her, as though she carried the weight of the world on her slender but strong shoulders. He wanted to crawl in beside her so bad he forced himself to take a step back. Then another. And another.

He made himself comfortable on the other bed, glanced over at her and found her fast asleep already, her full lips parted. Watching the rise and fall of her breasts under the sheet reminded him of last night, when she'd talked with him because she couldn't sleep. It had taken an act of will to not pull her close and kiss her lingering sadness away. He sure wished she had more to smile about.

And that she was thousands of miles away from any terrorists.

When his cell vibrated he grabbed it. The screen showed a text message from Luke. He'd made contact with his 188

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informant, Fahdi. Some sort of meeting was going to happen tonight between Tehrazzi and Masood.

Dec shut the phone, hoping like hell Bryn wouldn't need to be involved in whatever they had to do tonight. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he could maintain his professional distance if she was in danger. If he let his control slip when things got critical, someone could pay for his mistake with their life.

To distract himself, he set about working on one of the radio transmitters they'd be using. Before long Luke strode in, tossing a new map onto the bed. "Meeting's tonight at a club downtown. Twenty-one hundred."

Dec set aside the transmitter. "Your informant's sure Tehrazzi's going to be there?"

"Him and a few of his deputies."

"And how the hell are we going to get in? Security's gonna be too tight. We setting up a diversion?"

"Yep." Luke gestured with a jerk of his head. "With Bryn."

She'd stirred at Luke's entrance, and now her head snapped up from the pillow. "Me?" she squeaked.

"Forget it." Dec's voice was clipped, cold as the glare he aimed at Luke. "Tehrazzi would recognize her in a second, and there's no way—"

"The only way we could get in on such short notice without raising too much suspicion is if we provided the...entertainment."

Bryn swallowed. "Entertainment?"

Dec's eyes flared. "What, you want to parade her in there and offer her up as a prize to the host?"

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"All we need to do is provide enough of a distraction so you can plant the tags and get the intel. Then we leave."

Dec folded his arms across his chest. "By asking her to pose as a whore."

Luke ignored him. "Setting off explosives isn't going to get the job done tonight, Lieutenant. And I'm not asking her to be a whore." His keen gaze sought hers. "Think you could put on a performance tonight?"

"What sort of performance?" Dec demanded.

"Belly dance."

"Belly dance?" Dec's eyebrows flew upward as he cranked his head around to stare at her. "You belly dance?"

"Ah, yeah. I teach classes back home."

Dec looked at her as though he'd never seen her before.

"Think you can pull it off?" Belly dancers were not exactly respected in Middle Eastern culture. If she did this, she would practically be begging to be propositioned. Could she go through with it, knowing Tehrazzi was there, watching her?

You bet she could. Problem was, the idea of that slime ball's eyes stripping her naked made his stomach turn.

"We'd have to cover your scars somehow," Luke mused.

"With the right costume and makeup, Tehrazzi might not recognize you."

She chewed her lip.

"Look, I wouldn't have suggested it unless I thought it was feasible."

"If he did recognize me, what do you think he'd do?"

"He'd know it was a trap," Dec answered. "He might be a sorry piece of shit, but he's not stupid. If he sees her, he'll try 190

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to kill her. And even if he doesn't, our cover's blown and he'll go to ground. We may never get another shot at him."

Luke grunted. "Got a better suggestion?"

Dec's silence answered for him.

"Will you guys be inside with me?"

"At least one of us will be with you the entire time, to make sure no one but the highest bidder gets to...sample your talents."

"What?" she quavered.

"Christ," Dec muttered, dragging his hands through his hair.

"It's all an illusion, Bryn. All you have to do is dance, and once Dec gets everything in position and gives the all clear, I hustle you out the back exit to the car."

"And you think I'll be safe?"

"You'll be safe," Luke promised.

She regarded Dec.

"You know what I think," he said.

"Well?" Luke prompted. "Are you up for this? One show.

Just one, and then maybe you'll be finished your part of the op."

She let out a breath. "Okay. I'll do it."

Luke looked at him. "So, which one of us is gonna take Bryn shopping?"

The nightclub was located in the heart of Damascus.

Modern architecture warred with the spires of ancient mosques, the call to prayer drowned by the traffic and thumping techno music. That must chafe the radical jihadists'

asses, Bryn thought as she stared out the bulletproof window 191

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of the limousine. She fought down the jitters in the pit of her stomach, wiped her hands on the robe covering her from head to ankle.

She'd performed at restaurants before, filling in for dancer friends. But they'd been family restaurants full of children.

Now Luke was asking her to perform for a group of men known to fund and engage in terrorist activities. The kind of dance he had in mind wouldn't be her normal routine of flitting from table to table, making the coins on her skirt jingle for a delighted child or a couple celebrating a romantic evening. No, this would have to be sexually charged, something men would expect from a prostitute. A woman seducing a lover. She cringed.

Beside her, Luke said little. She'd have given anything to have Dec beside her instead. Luke made her feel safe, but Dec would have given her an extra dose of courage. After all, she was dancing for him tonight.

She'd decided that would see her through the humiliation of every man in the room placing bids to see who would be the lucky one to spend the night with her. She had to be a siren, calling to her lover, and she had to make it believable.

The only way to do that was to think of Dec while she performed.

The limo pulled up beside a glitzy nightclub. She rubbed a hand over her bubbling stomach.

"Ready?" Luke asked.

She nodded. Although she wanted no part of this, she didn't blame him for suggesting it. After all, she had agreed to help them get Tehrazzi. If things went as planned tonight, 192

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her role in the mission would be over and she would be on her way home. Luke was Rayne's dad, Emily's beloved ex-husband. He wouldn't do anything to deliberately put her in harm's way, right?

Right?

Deep down, Bryn knew Luke would do whatever he had to in order to snare Tehrazzi. Including offering her up like a human sacrifice, family ties be damned.

When he let her out of the vehicle she stepped onto the curb in her high-heeled sandals, careful to keep her eyes downcast and all but her eyes covered. Modesty was in the script tonight, a little something to pique the men's interest.

Something to add to her mystique. With a firm hand on her elbow Luke led her through the crowd, into the throng of expensive Italian suits and the cloying scents of cologne and tobacco smoke. She felt light-headed all of a sudden.

"Keep breathing," Luke murmured for her ears only.

"You're safe, Bryn, I swear it. I've got half the team in here waiting for us. Ben's here, too."

"Where's Dec?"

"Doing his job."

That didn't ease the anxiety. This was just like those dreams you had when you were naked on stage and everyone was staring at you. Except this time, she would be
almost
naked and there really
was
going to be a crowd of men staring at her. Perspiration gathered under her arms. She wished Dec was with her.

Luke ushered her into a back room where two beefy security types eyed her with interest. A nasally Arab voice 193

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came from behind her, and she turned to face a middle-aged, heavy-set man with a goatee and balding pate, dressed in a dark suit with a blue pinstripe shirt. Heavy gold rings adorned each hand and a gold chain nestled in the furry thatch of escaping chest hair. He reminded her of a Mafioso gone bad.

"Mr. Masood," Luke greeted him, clasping the man's shoulders and exchanging the customary Arabic greeting of kissing each cheek.

"Welcome. My sources tell me I am about to experience pleasure like no other."

"Yes. My niece, Yasminah." He indicated Bryn with a sweep of his hand.

The Syrian reached out a pudgy hand and grasped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. She resisted the impulse to jerk away from his touch, the overpowering cologne doing nothing to disguise his body odor.

"Very beautiful."

Bryn struggled to find her voice to recite the practiced line.

With just the right amount of coyness, she looked at him through lowered lashes. "I hope you will be pleased with me."

To her own ears her voice sounded husky, and she attributed it to her dry throat.

Masood's lips curved, and her skin crawled at the lust burning in his eyes. "Of that I have no doubt, little flower."

As he released her chin and dismissed her with a wave of his hand she forced her knees to stop trembling. Retreating to the shadows, she closed her eyes and conjured up an image of Dec.

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You're doing this for Dec. Just imagine him watching you.

Tell him everything you feel for him when you dance.

"Yasminah."

Her head jerked up at Luke's voice.

"They're waiting for you."

Show time
. Her stomach did a back flip.
Suck it up, lady.