Hot Rebel (16 page)

“No, they don’t when they’re young.”

Jack just laughed. “You must have little nieces and nephews.”

Garrett only nodded. “Yeah, right. Energetic little shits.”

“Gina’s pregnant.” Jack’s voice was soft, his eyes shining with that faraway look that Garrett had never understood. He’d cared about Sara, but hell, they’d fought so much he didn’t think he’d ever had the chance to feel dreamy about her.

“That’s great, man. Fucking great.”
 

And it was, but it also hit him in the gut in a way he hadn’t expected.
 

“Yeah. She hasn’t announced it yet.” Jack shook his head. “I still can’t believe I’m married to a woman who has to announce things to the press. It’s fucking unreal how much they care about our lives.”

“How’s it working out for you, living in that little town on the Eastern Shore?”

“Waterman’s Cove? We love it. They’ve gotten pretty used to us there. Hell, I heard from Cindy at the Crab Shack that Mr. Russell over at the body shop chased away a reporter who’d come to town asking questions. Disabled his vehicle and then said he didn’t have the parts. Had the car towed to Cambridge, and the guy had to go with it or be without wheels.” Jack shook his head. “It’s funny, but I think the town feels protective of Gina.”

“People surprise you, don’t they?”

“Yeah, they do. She seems happy there.”
 

The door opened and Mendez walked in. The guys all stopped what they were doing and came to attention.
 

“As you were,” the colonel said.
 

Everyone relaxed, but no one sat down or turned away. They wouldn’t dare.

“We’ve got a report that bin Yusuf is in the southern quadrant of Qu’rim. Is he going to the consulate in Ras al-Dura, or is he after Victoria Royal? No fucking idea, and nothing more on Black’s organization.”

The colonel looked ready to explode in that intense, subdued way he had. The man was like an IED waiting for the trigger. You had no idea how dangerous he was until it was too late.

“Brandy didn’t have time to breach Black’s server room, but we know where it is. We could infiltrate, sir.”
 

This came from Flash. A couple of the other guys nodded. Mendez shook his head. “Black’s got that place wired six ways to Sunday. If we bust in, he’ll know it and he’ll go underground. We’ll never find him or figure out who he’s working for. We have to leave it until Brandy returns and gets inside.”

No one liked that option, but it was the only one they had if they wanted to stop Ian Black.
 

“Should we tell Brandy to get the fuck out?” Kev MacDonald asked. They all knew he meant the location where Brandy was holed up with Victoria. If bin Yusuf was on his way there, they could be in danger.

Mendez shook his head. “We’ll send him a message and warn Echo Squad to keep an eye out. But no, he’s got to stay until the last possible moment. We have to know who the target is in the consulate. That’s the missing puzzle piece that might just help us take down Black once and for all.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Nick frowned at the phone in his hand. The text message was coded in such a way that anyone looking at it wouldn’t understand. But he did. Zaran bin Yusuf was on his way to Ras al-Dura. No idea why, and no idea if Victoria was in danger.

But they had to stay put because to move would compromise the bigger mission, which was to learn Ian Black’s secrets. Echo Squad was near, watching the building and ready to launch into action. That made things better, but not perfect.

Nick glanced at Victoria who sat in the chair beside him, scanning the consulate with her binoculars. Hours had passed and the sun was setting. They wouldn’t turn on lights. Instead, they’d move closer to the windows, open one of them up, and start taking readings.

The life of a sniper was comprised of a lot of hurry-up-and-wait. They would rush to get to an objective, only to sit for hours sometimes, just waiting. Other times, the action was fast and furious and they worked until it was over and no more shots were fired.

This was one of the first types of jobs. Wait, wait, wait.

Not knowing the target made it frustrating, though Victoria didn’t seem to mind. She might be used to working this way, but he wasn’t.

“How did you decide to become a sniper?” he asked, realizing he didn’t know the answer at all.

She turned toward him for a second before scanning the building again. “I told you my grandfather taught me to shoot. I think he probably did it to shut me up because I kept asking to go hunting with him. Then I think he was pretty surprised that I was good at it. But he was proud of me.”

She paused. “I didn’t join the Army with the thought of becoming a sniper. I thought I’d get into computers or something else that would translate well to a job on the outside. But my shooting in Basic was so good that the instructors kept challenging me to do more. It just kind of happened after that.”

“And now you work for Ian Black.”

He could feel her stiffening beside him. “I needed the money. And I needed to be in Qu’rim. A girl’s gotta eat, Nick.”

“Yeah.”

She blew out a breath. “What about you? How did you end up here?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “Like you, I was good at shooting. Did a lot of hunting as a kid and just seemed to have an affinity for making difficult shots. I joined the Army to get the hell out of the Ozarks.”

“And your sister?”

He hadn’t forgotten he’d told her about Shelly, but he was surprised she asked. “She’s in Charlotte, running a restaurant with her wife. They’re planning to have a baby in the next year.”

She pursed her lips. “How do they decide which one…? Um, never mind. That’s personal and none of my business.”

It was personal, but he understood the curiosity. “It’s a legitimate question. Jessica will be the birth mother. And I’m going to be the father.”

The silence stretched and he began to regret he’d said anything. He didn’t know why he’d wanted to share it with her, but he’d thought she might understand. Maybe she didn’t. Not everyone would.

“That’s amazing, Nick. Really amazing.” Her voice was soft, a little thick.

He felt warm and his throat tightened. “Yeah, well, it makes sense, right? The baby will have both their DNA this way. Jessica is an only child. Maybe if she’d had a brother, they’d have done it the other way.”

“You’re a good man to help your sister.”

Maybe so, but he couldn’t fathom how or why he’d refuse. When Shelly had asked, he’d gone to the sperm bank as soon as he could and donated. With his job the way it was, they’d decided that putting his sperm on ice was better than him having to show up at a particular time and place. “Nah, my part was pretty easy. A few girly magazines, some porn, and a cup. I’ll be the kid’s uncle, but I won’t be involved in raising him or her. Probably a good thing, considering.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, a note of disapproval in her tone, and he almost laughed. She was defending him from himself. It was sorta sweet.

“Nothing much, just that I’m not sure I’m parent material. I don’t have time right now—and I don’t know the first thing about kids.”

“I don’t either. But I think I’d like one someday, when my life isn’t so chaotic.”

“A picket fence and a house with a dog?” He hadn’t quite pictured her in that setting, but he could see it. After seeing her in that sweet dress a few days ago, he could definitely see it. Maybe even in an apron, baking some cookies…

No, wait.
Just
an apron. Bent over, ass bared, hands gripping a kitchen island…

Shit, not the image he needed in his head right now.

“Why not? And a cat too. A kid, a cat, a dog—and a man. That would be nice as well.”

He tried to picture this shadowy man—but it only annoyed him to try. He didn’t want some other guy touching her. Not when he hadn’t touched her yet.

Jesus, dude, get a grip on yourself.

“If that’s your thing, why not?”

She laughed. “You don’t want to settle down someday? Have kids and a wife, go to a normal job?”

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“I thought everyone thought about it at some point. The future, I mean.”

“I think about the future. I just don’t think about being a nine-to-five guy with kids.”

For him, family life was strict and defined. He’d grown up with such rigid expectations. And while he wasn’t his father, he wasn’t sure he had what it took to be a parent. His parents certainly hadn’t provided a great example, though from the outside everyone would have said they had the perfect family.

Appearances could be deceiving.

Victoria didn’t say anything else. The sun had slipped behind the horizon several minutes ago now. The lights of the city glowed against the desert sky. Across the street, the consulate’s windows shined with light. Behind the windows, people moved back and forth, talking and… rearranging furniture.
 

“Looks like they’re getting ready for something,” Victoria said, not lowering her binoculars. “Maybe a party.”

He scanned the people inside, searching for hints of what they were doing. Yep, here came a huge table. A party was most likely when their target would appear, assuming
they
weren’t the target.
 

“When did you last check in with Black?”

“A couple of hours ago. And no, still no information.”

It didn’t bode well for them that Black hadn’t given them a mark. “Does he usually make you wait this long?”

“It depends on the client. Some are very secretive. Others don’t care.”

That wasn’t exactly helpful. “The disadvantages of being a contract killer.”

“And there goes the civility.” Her tone was frosty.

Nick gritted his teeth. Yeah, he’d been the one to break the peace, but this situation pissed him off. She was in danger, and she didn’t even know it. Worse, she seemed to trust that Black wasn’t double-dealing with her.

“Bin Yusuf is coming.” He decided she needed to know the truth of that at least.

She grew still. “All right.” She sounded so calm when he knew she had to be somewhat rattled over the news. “And yet there’s not really anything we can do about it. Is there?”

It wasn’t a question so much as a statement daring him to contradict her. He wished he could.

“No. He might not be coming for us at all. He might be on his way to the consulate, or on Freedom Force business in the city.”

“But you think he’s coming for me.” It wasn’t a question.

He blew out a breath. “I don’t know. I have no fucking clue. It would be a terrible waste of resources for him to come for you—but if he’s convinced himself you have to die, then maybe he thinks it’s worth it.”

*
 
*
 
*

The apartment was quiet, but outside, the sound of cars on the streets reached into the darkness. There were other sounds too—animals, people shouting and talking, and the milling of a city as people left the mosques now that the Mahgrib was done.
 

Victoria was still reeling from the idea that bin Yusuf was coming, but then they didn’t know
why
he was coming. Nick was right that it wasn’t a good use of resources to come for her. But the asshole wasn’t precisely firing on all cylinders anyway—where was the logic in trying to kill her in Akhira, for instance? All he’d needed to do was deny her the chance to see Emily, but he’d specifically sent men to pick her up and dispose of her.

“We’ll have warning, I presume?”
 

“Yes,” Nick said.
 

She shrugged, though she didn’t feel quite as unconcerned as she pretended. “Then we’re safer here than we’d be on the road. And if bin Yusuf does come, then we’ll know where Ian’s loyalties lie, won’t we?”
 

She let her hand glide over the butt of her pistol and then looked down at the gleaming rifle lying on a blanket on the floor. He might come for her, but she wasn’t giving up without one hell of a fight. “Besides, we’re heavily armed. It’d be suicide to bust in here after us.”

Nick snorted. “Yeah, it definitely would.”

She picked up her scope and went over to slide the window back. Then she sighted across the distance to the consulate, looking in each window, thinking about the shot it would take to fire through every one of them. She didn’t know if there really was a target, but she’d act like there was until events proved differently.

It was all she knew how to do. If she let herself dwell on the topic—Zaran bin Yusuf, Ian, Emily—she’d want to scream. And that wasn’t what she did. She worked hard, stayed serious, and took care of business.

But at least this time she wasn’t alone.

“I’m glad you’re with me,” she said, not turning away from her task. And she was glad, because she knew she could trust Nick Brandon with her life. A man who cared enough about his own sister to cut ties with his family when they treated her poorly, who intended to give her a chance to be a mother to a child with her own DNA, was not a bad man to have at your back.