Garrett had nothing to say to Haley. Yes, he risked his life, but Frank had no business telling her that. He wondered if his boss had an ulterior motive, that maybe the man thought their relationship might make him lose his edge. He wondered if Frank deliberately raised the odds to break them up. If so, it certainly did the trick.

He walked over to the couch and sat down, putting his arm across the back. “Okay, so you know the truth. I’m an agent whose job can be pretty risky. Did that stop you from loving me?”

She lowered her head and fiddled with her fingernails. “No, no it didn’t.”

“So, what did you accomplish by going behind my back to my boss? You feel better now?”

Garrett didn’t know whether he was more pissed at Frank, Haley, or himself. None of the Falcon agents discussed their missions with their wives. That’s a rule they all followed. Besides, national security had to be considered all the time. The wrong thing said in the wrong setting could easily compromise a mission and get an agent killed.

She sniffled, and Garrett’s heart cracked. He didn’t want her crying or sad, but she’s the one who called off their relationship. He assumed that’s what she wanted, so why the tears?

He fought the urge to go to her, but refused to get off the couch. If he stayed right there, he didn’t have to worry about hurting anymore. If possible. The crushing blow she’d dealt him left a pain he’d never forget. He didn’t dare get that close to the flame again. Not with Haley.

“I wanted you to quit Falcon Securities and get a normal job,” she whispered. “One where you would be safe and I wouldn’t have to worry.”

“For two years, you didn’t ask me that.”

“I knew you wouldn’t walk away from Frank.”

She sure assumed a lot for someone who didn’t know jack shit. It didn’t evolve around Frank, it was about making the world a safer place. She was right about one thing, though, he’d never quit. Not until he couldn’t do the job anymore.

“It’s all I’ve ever done, Haley, and I love what I do. And while you were thinking about what you wanted, did you ever once consider I know what is best for me?”

Her head came up. “Getting shot or maybe killed?”

“That’s not all this job is about.” He shook his head, “And it’s really none of your concern. We’ve been done a long time. You live in your safe, happy world, and I live in mine.”

“But yours isn’t safe or happy.”

“You don’t know that. I rescued you, didn’t I?” He lifted his chin. “What if there were no men like me? Then you’d still be in the hands of the terrorists or probably dead by now.” He didn’t want to argue anymore. “For fuck’s sake, let’s drop this and order something to eat. I’m hungry.”

She slumped down into the chair across from him. “I appreciate you risking your life to save me.” She looked at him, her eyes sad. “I guess it’s best if we don’t talk about it anymore. You are who you are, and I’m...well, me.”

He shoved off the couch and walked toward the hotel phone then picked up the small menu. “What do you want?”

“I don’t care. A sandwich will be fine.”

Before he could say a word, his cell phone rang, he quickly answered it. Haley could tell it was Harrington, but Garrett turned his back and all she could hear were the man’s muffled words and Garrett’s murmured responses. After a two-minute conversation, Garrett hung up and held out his hand. “Let’s go.”

She jumped to her feet. “Why, what’s going on?”

“One of Nagi’s men is outside the hotel.”

“I assume he’s here for us?”

Garrett nodded.

“How in the hell did he find us?”

“No idea, but we have to move.”

She took his hand as he led her out of the room and into the long hallway. Not taking any chances, he turned toward the stairwell. Opening the door, he stuck his head in and looked both up and down the stairwell to make sure they were alone. He pulled her through the door and they quietly made their way down the four flights of stairs to the bottom. Again, he carefully cracked open the door to the lobby and took in their surroundings.

The coast appeared clear. The only people he saw besides hotel staff were Grey and Harrington. He got their attention and Grey motioned for them to join him and the other agent.

“What’s going on?”

Harrington grimaced. “It appears Nagi put a tail on you and spotted your car in the parking lot.”

“Has the FBI checked out the place where the terrorists kept Haley?”

Harrington leaned forward. “They didn’t get a chance. Just as they were about to move in, the building blew up. They weren’t able to find anything.”

“What about El Hashem’s body,” Haley gasped, her eyes wide. “Was he killed in the blast?”

“If he was, they haven’t recovered the body.”

“He can’t be alive,” she rubbed her forehead. “The man was minutes away from slipping into a coma.”

“We may never know. Your supposition about Nagi holding a grudge against Dr. Kingston is true, though. He wants her, and we don’t know if it’s because El Hashem is still alive or if he’s just pissed she got away.”

Garrett laced his fingers through hers and squeezed, silently reassuring her that he’d protect her and they’d get out of this mess. “Since the car is hot, did you get another one?”

“Yep,” Harrington handed him a set of keys. “I suggest you take the back door and get away from here.”

“I wonder why Nagi and his men aren’t trying to get out of the States,” Garrett rubbed his chin. “Unless their mission isn’t done yet.”

“You think they have something else planned?”

“I’ve always thought the airport bombing was a distraction. They have bigger fish to fry and I intend to find out what it is.”

“If you’re going hunting,” Grey raised a brow, “I suggest you get the doctor to a safe place so she’s out of harm’s way.”

“She stays with me,” Garrett insisted. “This is as safe as it gets.”

“Okay, give us a minute. We’ll cause a diversion out front and you two go out the side door.”

Garrett walked with Haley until they reached the employee exit. He spotted the vehicle Harrington left for them right away. It was a beige Taurus and would easily blend in on the highway, if they could make it that far without being made.

He pressed her body against the wall and looked into her eyes. “Stay as close to me as you can. Don’t run, don’t panic and avoid drawing any attention to us.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to casually walk across the parking lot, get into that Taurus, and drive away. The more we try to avoid detection, the more suspicious we’ll appear.”

“So, in other words, remain calm while at any minute someone might shoot us.”

“You don’t have a lot to worry about. Odds are, Nagi wants you alive. Me, on the other hand, he’ll kill without a second thought. So, stay close.”

“Okay.”

He took her hand and pressed his palm against the exit door. “Are you ready?”

She nodded, and he shoved open the door. Dusk greeted them as they walked across the parking lot to the vehicle. He opened the door for her then quickly went around to the driver’s side. He fired up the engine and backed out.

Then, before he could put the car in drive and move forward, the passenger window shattered.

The phone in Preston’s hand finally rang. His heart ticked loudly. It was about damn time. “Zareeb?”

“No, my name is Mehaza Nagi.”

“Where is Zareeb?”

“He was wounded in the airport bombing, but we managed to get him to a safehouse before the authorities could capture him.”

“Is he all right?”

“No, I’m sorry to say I believe the wound is fatal. We managed to capture a doctor from the hospital to treat him.”

“Which doctor? Who?” Preston shouted. Had they screwed that up too?

“It was a Dr. Haley Kingston. Zareeb would not let her touch him.”

One thing had gone right.

“Do you still have her?” Preston’s relief that part of the operation went as planned was short-lived.

“No, she managed to get away.”

His heart nearly fell out of his chest and on to the floor. How could this happen? So far, they hadn’t done one thing right.

“Can she identify you or Zareeb?”

“Yes, I’m certain of that. I had planned to get rid of her.”

“So, she’s running around free and knows who and where you are?” Preston paced the floor of his office frantically. “This changes everything, damn it.”

“Not if she’s dead.”

Preston stopped short. “No, do not kill her. Do you hear me?”

“Yes,” came a faint reply.

“What about Zareeb?”

“We managed to get him out of the house before blowing it up, but he’s getting worse by the minute.”

Preston didn’t want anyone getting their hands on the leader. He was too valuable. Besides, if anyone were to interrogate him in his condition, he’d more than likely give away enough to blow the mission all to hell. “You must keep him alive.” Preston said carefully, unsure of Nagi’s allegiance to El Hashem. “I mean, he is the only one who knows the complete plan...”

“We’re doing everything we can, but he desperately needs surgery to remove the bullet and repair the damage done to his body. The men are his, and they love him dearly. We pray for his life to be long and prosperous.”

“Good, if anything happens to Zareeb, there will be serious repercussions.”

“I’m in a difficult position here, Mr. McCoy,” Nagi growled through gritted teeth. “I have to save El Hashem while gaining the trust of his men should he come to any...misfortune. Now do you want me to get the doctor back so she can save him?”

The whole thing was about to blow up in their faces, potentially bringing down their entire organization. America must be brought to its knees. Fulfilling their holy mission was all that mattered. Also, he’d invested so much money in the mission he couldn’t back out now. He wondered if Nagi was a man he could trust.

“Did El Hashem explain our goal? Do you know everything? What I want accomplished?”

“Zareeb and I have been friends since childhood. He told me the bombing was a mere distraction. He’d planned to tell me more afterwards but never had the chance.”

“Then we need to meet. I want this to go forward, and you’re all I have.”

Haley screamed when the glass shattered. Garrett shoved her head into her lap and ducked while he peeled out of the parking lot and onto the main street. She lifted her head when he turned a corner on two wheels. They were being chased, but by who?

Did Mehaza want her back to do the surgery on El Hashem, or did he plan to kill her because she saw their faces? Haley’s heart pounded loudly in her chest and she felt faint. She glanced over at Garrett and saw his eyes focused intently on the road. He drove at a speed too dangerous for the heavy traffic, but as she checked behind them she saw two men in a white sedan right on their tail.

She was still struggling with her seatbelt when Garrett made a sharp right, throwing her against the car door. The pain in her shoulder made her groan, but she finally managed to get the damned thing fastened. Jaw set, he resolutely kept his foot on the gas pedal. Haley’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped when he hit the brakes, and spin the wheel to the left, and jammed the car into reverse. Haley’s eyes flicked from the car now in front of them to the man at the wheel.

The other driver’s eyes narrowed as their car shot forward.

Garrett pulled a gun from the back of his waistband and fired twice. Suddenly, the car veered to the left and slammed into a concrete barrier.

The sudden deafening silence unnerved her.

“My God,” she whispered. “What just happened?”

“I think we outsmarted the bad guys.”

“Really? I thought they were going to run right into us.” She brushed back her hair and gulped for air. “I think my life flashed before my eyes.”

“Let’s get out of here. There are a lot more men where those two came from. Nagi’s made his intentions clear. He’s after you.”

She brushed the glass from her lap. “But why? I’m no threat to him.”

“You can identify the entire cell.”

“But I won’t. I don’t want anything to do with this mess. I was minding my own business until they kidnapped me.”

“That’s not exactly how they see it. In Nagi’s eyes, you’re the reason everything fell apart. If you’d done the necessary surgery and El Hashem had lived, they’d be on track to finish whatever it was that brought them here in the first place.”

“But they tried to blow up an airport and failed.”

“That probably wasn’t their main objective.”

She rubbed her forehead. “I don’t understand any of this. Why bother with the airport at all? It only brought attention to them.”

“It also diverted Homeland’s attention. While they’re busy investigating the airport, I’m sure Nagi has moved on to their real target.”

“You don’t think they’re through?”

“Not by a long shot. They didn’t go to all this trouble to just do a flash bang. They have a lot more planned, and I have to find out just what that is.”

“But shouldn’t I just go home?”

“You want to dodge Nagi by yourself? What if he wants you dead? He won’t give up until he reaches that goal.”

“I don’t know how I got involved in this, Garrett. I was just leaving work. I didn’t even know that much about what happened at the airport.”

He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his side. “I know it isn’t your fault, and as soon as I stop these guys you can have your life back. Until then, you’re safer with me. These are very dangerous men who’ll stop at nothing to get what they want.”

She leaned away and looked into his brown eyes. “But what if you never do?” Her voice was choked. “This could go on for years before it ends.”

“History tells me El Hashem getting shot wasn’t part of the plan. It shouldn’t have gone down like that. My guess is they didn’t come here to blow up the airport. They have a bigger target. And no matter how long it takes, we’ll find out what it is and deal with them once and for all.”

“But Garrett, you could just let the FBI, Homeland...” she wrung her hands, “...or anyone else do this.”

“I was given this mission. It’s my job. Maybe I should put you on a plane to Frank. He can protect you until this is over.”

“I don’t want to leave you.” Tears burned the backs of her eyes. “I don’t want anyone shooting at me and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

He put his hand behind her head and pulled her toward him. Their foreheads touched. “We’re going to be okay. Just take a deep breath and let it go.”

“But...”

“No buts. It’s okay. We’ll find someplace safe and then we can figure out our next move.” He looked out the busted window. “We need to get out of here, now.”

“Do you have any idea where to go?”

“I know where to start, but first we have to ditch this car.”