Chapter Four

 

 

December twenty-fourth. Even without knowing the date, Zaid would have been able to guess it was Christmas Eve the moment he stepped into the squad room simply by observing his teammates.

The energy in the room was uncharacteristically low during this downtime before another team briefing. All the guys were quiet and subdued, partly because they were tired from the nonstop op-tempo over here, and partly because they were discouraged by the last two ops being total busts.

But more than that, Zaid suspected it had more to do with them being so far away from their families and significant others at this time of year. He missed his family too. And since FAST Bravo was only a few weeks into its four-month rotation, they had a long way to go yet before any reunions took place.

Jamie Rodriguez emerged from the small storage room at the back where they’d set up a laptop for private calls. They used their personal cell phones most of the time, but it was cheaper to use the laptop to check emails and do Skype calls. “You need in here?” Rodriguez asked him.

“No, I’m good until everyone else has had a turn.” The only people waiting for word from him were his parents back home in New Jersey, and since today wasn’t that big a deal to them, Zaid could call them another time.

“You don’t have a hot online date set up?” Rodriguez teased.

“Wouldn’t tell you even if I did.” And no, he’d given all that up months ago. He was sick of dating and things never working out. He wanted a meaningful connection he could build on with a woman he admired and enjoyed spending time with, not a string of hookups that went nowhere. He wanted it badly enough that he’d even jumped into online dating waters, something he’d sworn he’d never do, and had been matched up with a woman who seriously piqued his interest.

Still skeptical, he’d taken things slow with her, and after five weeks of chatting with her every day he was reasonably sure she was the real deal and had finally worked up the courage to ask her to meet in person when she came into town. She’d agreed and sounded enthusiastic about seeing him, and he’d eagerly anticipated it. Then, the night before they were supposed to meet, she’d canceled on him in a freaking text message and cut all contact.

Zaid had been bewildered, and yeah, hurt. More hurt than he probably should have been, considering they’d never actually met and hadn’t even seen pictures of one another due to security concerns with their jobs.

Sure he’d withheld certain things from her, like his last name and what he did for a living, but he assumed she’d done the same and thought they’d had a real connection going. They had similar political and moral beliefs; they both valued family and wanted to make the world a better place. They both loved to read and liked a lot of the same books.

He had no idea what had gone wrong, but figured she’d either lost interest or found someone else. Or he’d misread her the entire time. Whatever the reason, he was in no hurry to put himself out there and get his heart stomped on again. Hence his dating hiatus. This deployment couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Well you’re no fun,” Rodriguez said.

Guess not, or she wouldn’t have cut contact with me.

Putting his hands in his pockets, Zaid tried to think of what he could do to raise spirits around here. As the team medic, it was his responsibility to look after the guys’ physical injuries, but he also considered it his job to monitor and help them with personal things too. “How are things back home?” he asked Rodriguez.

“Okay. Charlie’s good, still working hard on cracking more encrypted files on the Veneno investigation with her team.”

Rodriguez’s girlfriend was an analyst working the case back in D.C. The Venenos were a big freaking deal, and a global threat whose tentacles now reached all the way over here to Afghanistan. Rumors said The Jackal was involved with them somehow, shipping Afghan opium back to Mexico. “And your mom?”

Rodriguez hesitated, then lowered his gaze to the floor. “Not good.”

Shit. Her MS was progressing much faster than anyone had expected. Now Zaid was sorry he’d asked. “Sorry to hear that.”

Rodriguez nodded. “Thanks. It’s not critical yet, but she’s getting weaker every day, and losing more function.” He blew out a hard breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “The holidays always make it tougher, especially when I’m so far away. At least she’s got the rest of the family there with her, even if I can’t be.”

“Yeah.” Zaid paused a beat. “Anything we can do?”

His teammate looked up and gave him a half-smile. “No. But thanks for asking.”

It had been worth a shot. “Sure.”

Prentiss walked in and stopped when he saw them standing outside the storage room. “Y’all using the laptop?”

“No, go ahead.” Zaid stepped out of the way and motioned for him to go in. “Got an important call?”

“Trying to set up one with Autumn, yeah. I want to make sure I get to talk to her either today or tomorrow.”

His daughter. “Good stuff.” Aside from their commander, Prentiss was the only one on the team who was a father. Zaid wasn’t a parent and not likely to be one anytime soon even though he wanted that one day, but he could imagine how much it sucked to be away from your kid during such an important holiday—especially if it wasn’t the first or even fifth time.

“My ex isn’t making it easy, of course.” Prentiss shook his dark head, frustration burning in his deep blue eyes. “She’s a great mom, I give her all the credit in the world there, since she’s basically a single parent while I’m gone. But when it comes to me?” He snorted. “She still doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that I can’t just schedule a call and always stick to it. That I can’t opt out of a team meeting or mission to be on the call if something comes up.”

“That sucks. Good luck.” The guy lived for his baby girl, and rightly so.

“Thanks,” Prentiss muttered, and walked past them into the storage room to shut the door.

“His ex is a piece of work,” Maka said from over in the corner where he was busy loading his Nerf gun in gleeful anticipation of hitting another victim with a foam dart.

His latest coping mechanism to stave off boredom and pass the time while they waited for something from command. Zaid swore the guy had ADD.

“Never misses a chance to screw him over when it comes to their kid.” Maka shook his head and didn’t bother looking up, intent on his work with the pile of darts in his lap. “Don’t get why she’s still so pissed at him about the breakup. They’ve been divorced for like, seven years.”

Zaid snorted. “Says the guy who’s never been through a divorce.” Zaid hoped he never went through one. He was a one-woman kinda guy, and when he found The One, he would lock her down with a ring on her finger so the whole world knew she was his.

Unbidden, an image of Jaliya popped into his head. Now there was the kind of woman he’d be proud to settle down with one day. Smart, driven, sexy. They even shared the same religious background.

Not that he was ready to risk his heart again. Maybe after this deployment he’d feel up to putting himself out there once he’d been home for a while.

Maka looked up at him, his dark brows pulled together in a ferocious scowl. “I’m serious. She’s nasty to him. Do you know how many kids out there would kill to have a dad who cared about them that much? Prentiss has done everything in his power to maintain a good relationship with his daughter since the split. But instead of trying to support that, his ex would rather sabotage it to get back at him out of some twisted sense of revenge. And who loses? The kid. Every damn time.”

The impassioned speech took Zaid off guard so much that he didn’t answer for a long moment, and shared a look with Rodriguez. Maka didn’t open up about personal stuff too often, although the team knew he hadn’t had it easy as a kid. It sounded like Maka had just exposed an old wound he’d kept hidden until now. “Was your dad like that?”

Maka’s jaw flexed under the dark scruff and he looked back down at his foam ammo, shaking his head. “Are you kidding? My sperm donor didn’t give two shits about me or my mom. Took off when I was a baby and never looked back. That’s why I’m saying someone like Prentiss, who busts his ass trying to be there for his daughter, shouldn’t have to fight for that relationship. It’s not right, for him or his girl.”

“No, it’s not.” And Maka was right. The daughter was the one who lost out when her mother tried to block Prentiss’s efforts at keeping in touch. Using Autumn as a weapon was wrong, but sadly, all too common in divorces. “Let’s hope things go smoothly for him this time.”

“Wouldn’t hold your breath on that one,” Maka muttered, sliding the last of the foam bullets into his uzi-style Nerf gun. Sucker must have at least twenty rounds in it, after Maka’s modifications. “Things have gotten worse for him since we got over here, in case you haven’t noticed. Man, I’d love to meet her so I could give her a piece of my mind.”

Zaid chuckled. “Are you kidding? One look from you and you’d have her in tears.” Maka had a heart of gold, but he was huge and could be an intimidating son of a bitch to those who didn’t know him.

Maka scowled. “I’m not that scary. Just don’t like seeing my buddy getting a raw deal. Or Autumn either, for that matter. She’s a sweetie pie.”

Zaid smiled at the show of loyalty and protectiveness. Now that he thought about it, Prentiss had been even more withdrawn than usual this deployment. Things had always been rocky with his ex, but something more had to be up with them right now, because Prentiss was the only one who hadn’t received a care package or parcel from home this week. Even Zaid had received a hand-written letter and a tin of cookies from his mom a few days ago, and they didn’t even celebrate Christmas.

In fact, the only guy on the team who seemed remotely cheerful over the past day or two was Maka, prior to this conversation, anyway. Zaid nodded at the plastic weapon in his teammate’s lap. “You better not try to shoot me with that thing.”

A sly grin spread across Maka’s face. “Oh, it’s happening. But don’t worry, you won’t see it coming.” He petted the plastic cylinder lovingly. “They never do.”

“Don’t forget, we shoot back,” Rodriguez told him.

Maka shrugged a broad shoulder. “Just wanted to make sure I was loaded and ready to rock. Never know when the right opportunity will present itself.”

Meaning, no one was safe, and they’d all be pelted with foam bullets at some point during this deployment. “Can’t you read a book or something like everyone else, play some video games and pass the time in a way that won’t wind up in a brawl?” Zaid asked.

“No.”

Hell, now that he thought about it, maybe a little brawl would be good for them and their morale. Let some steam off. It wouldn’t be long until they got another assignment, but the lag time in between was boring as hell.

The storage room door opened and Prentiss stepped out, looking ready to hit something. His gaze locked on Maka and the Nerf gun across the room, and his eyes narrowed in warning. “Don’t even think about it.”

Expression all innocence, Maka pointed the weapon at him and fired. A foam dart zinged across the room and pegged Prentiss center mass, dead in the middle of the star on his Captain America shirt.

“Asshole,” Prentiss snarled, and took a menacing step forward. Zaid guessed the attempt to set up a call with his daughter hadn’t gone so well. He almost hoped Prentiss and Maka did tussle. It would be good for both of them, and neither one of them would cross the line.

Hooting with laughter, Maka jumped up and ran out the door, whirling to fire another three rounds as he did. Prentiss ducked the first one, but the next two bounced off his shoulder. “Yeah, that’s right, you pussy, run!” he shouted after Maka.

Deep laughter echoed back at them from down the hall as Maka went in search of his next unsuspecting victim. Zaid shook his head. “He’s like a child.”

“Yeah.” A reluctant grin tugged at Prentiss’s hard mouth as he stared toward the hallway after their teammate.

Rodriguez clapped Prentiss on the shoulder. “You can get him back while he’s sleeping. When that guy’s out, he’s like a bear in hibernation.” With that helpful suggestion, he walked out of the room.

Zaid looked at Prentiss. At least Maka’s prank seemed to have lessened some of his teammate’s tension. “So, how’d it go? You get it set up?”

“Dunno. Have to wait to hear back from the ex. I tried texting her and she won’t respond.” His expression was as sour as his tone, but the sharp frustration was gone.

Zaid checked his watch. They still had over an hour until the team briefing. He was looking forward to it and bet the others were too. It would give them something to do, and it would also give him a chance to see Jaliya again. She’d been as frustrated and annoyed as the rest of them about the lack of results from the past two ops. She and her team were working overtime to uncover new leads and find them another target to check out.

He had seventy minutes to kill before he got to look at that pretty face and tried not to let his mind wander off into imagining her naked. Or naked and under him. It was damn hard not to fantasize about it, even if he knew it would never happen.

Zaid glanced around the team room, now empty except for him and Prentiss. One of the guys had pilfered an X-Box system and set it up in the far corner. He raised an eyebrow at Prentiss. “Call of Duty until the briefing?”

This time Prentiss’s smile was genuine, and full of appreciation. “Yeah, why not.”

 

****

 

Even without seeing him, Jaliya knew the moment Agent Khan stepped into the downtown Kabul office the next day.

She’d been expecting him, yet something tingled low in her belly and a subtle tension took hold of her muscles, making her heart rate kick up a notch. She braced herself before turning, but it wasn’t enough. His hazel gaze collided with hers from across the conference room, and the slight smile he gave her was so damn sexy her heart lurched.

Nuh-uh. You’re working. And he’s off limits. “Hello,” she murmured, striving to be courteous and nothing more.

“Hi.” Today he had on a tan tactical shirt that hugged his broad shoulders and chest, the short sleeves hugging the defined curves of his chest and biceps.

Yum.

“The others will be here in another minute,” he added.

She nodded and put on a polite, professional smile, hoping he couldn’t tell the effect he had on her. While she wasn’t terribly experienced with men, she could tell Khan was interested.

He was subtle about it, though, respectful, and that made it twice as hard to ignore her own attraction to him. She was dying to know whether he was the same Zaid from the dating site. Online Zaid had been thirty-three, and this Zaid was around that age.

Not that she was going to pursue anything with him, because the whole idea was stupid. Getting involved with him would make her look completely unprofessional should anyone find out, not to mention that a potential relationship with him was an automatic dead end because she was based out of Kabul for the foreseeable future and he was only here for another three months.

“You been making any headway with finding your young informant?” he asked, folding his tall body into a chair on the opposite side of the table. The man had an air of authority and a natural magnetism that were impossible to ignore. Calm, self-assured, and she was pretty sure those hazel eyes missed nothing when he looked at her.

It made her feel naked, especially when they were alone like this, catching her off guard and rattling her a little. “Not yet.” She set out the last of the folders and straightened, pulling her professional armor around her like a shield. “But we’re following up a few leads.”

“You think he was lying to us?”

“There’s a good chance, yes.” She’d known that going in, of course, and would weigh his intel carefully.

Agent Hamilton, FAST Bravo’s team leader walked in, and gave her a friendly nod that she returned. “Sorry we had to push this back so late. Commander Taggart had Khan and me in another meeting.”

“No, don’t apologize. I’m glad you were both able to be here for this.”

Agent Khan was here to help with translation during the presentation. And they would all be spending more time together in future because of the ongoing investigation with their informant, Barakat, who had seemed to miraculously vanish after their meeting.

Because the little tosser was most likely playing both sides against the other.

Jaliya still didn’t know whether he’d fed them straight bullshit, or whether The Jackal had somehow been tipped off about the other night’s op. Either way, their high value target hadn’t been in the village when FAST Bravo and the NIU went in. It made her team —and by association, her—look inept. She wouldn’t stand for it.

Commander Taggart and the rest of the taskforce arrived, including members of the NIU and two military officers, Colonel Shah and General Nasar. Four more Afghan military officials took their seats next to the chief of special police in Kabul. With two members of her team beside her fielding questions and Zaid helping translate for the two Afghan officials who didn’t speak English, she felt more at ease delivering the information she had to share.

“By this point we’re all aware that recent operations to seize shipments and find The Jackal have been unsuccessful. The missing shipments we were assured were there, and the empty caches our teams have found are reason enough to suspect a problem within our intel network.”

The whole time she spoke, she was acutely aware of everyone’s eyes on her, but especially Taggart’s and Khan’s. Both secretly made her nervous, although for very different reasons. One seemed to scrutinize her capability as an intel specialist. The other made her feel intensely female. Desirable.

She cleared her throat and continued. “But based on recent information we have received, I’m comfortable in saying that we have a leak somewhere in our chain of informants. Or worse, within our own intelligence community. Whatever the case may be, we’re certain that The Jackal is behind it.” Her team was currently analyzing all the potential players involved, which more than doubled their workload.

With that she motioned for everyone to open their folders, and took them through all the intel she and her team had compiled, a page at a time. Efforts to find likely targets containing caches of drugs and weapons stemming from The Jackal were frustrated by teams coming up blank whenever they went out to search.

She was starting to wonder if the leak stemmed from someone in this very room.

As head of her division on the taskforce, it was her reputation at stake when the search teams came up empty in the field. She was the intelligence specialist assigned to FAST Bravo, and recent events had begun to make her look incompetent. That was totally unacceptable, and she would be damned if she’d let it continue.

No. When she found Barakat she would lean on him until he spilled everything in his devious little heart.

When she was finished with her presentation, Jaliya fielded a few questions from the taskforce representatives before giving her closing remarks. “Rest assured that my team and I are working around the clock to get to the bottom of this and find the source of the leak. I’ll personally update the heads of the departments when I have any pertinent intel to pass on.”

She and her team had already started combing through the movements of the taskforce personnel, just to make sure one of them wasn’t involved in the leak. As far as she and her team could discern, the FAST and NIU members were all innocent. After all, they were the ones sent out to perform the ops. Their leaders appeared clean as well, or they wouldn’t have been included in this meeting.

As soon as her team exposed the leak, they’d be one step closer to bringing The Jackal down once and for all.

“Any further questions?” she finished.

“You’ll let the agency know if you need any more resources or assets to assist with the investigation?” Taggart’s tone made it clear he wasn’t asking. Rather, he’d just given her a politely-phrased command to bring more people on board.

She wasn’t about to argue with him. They had more work than they could handle and her investigation had proven that Taggart was clean. “Of course.”

Relieved the meeting was over, she gathered her files and tucked them into her backpack. When she straightened, her stomach did a little flip to see Khan standing next to the door, waiting for her.

She arched an eyebrow at him. Usually men only singled her out if they were going to hit on her, and she was quick to put them in their place if they tried. She kept waiting for Khan to cross that line, but he hadn’t yet. It made her wary. What did he want from her?

“Did you need something, Agent Khan?” she asked.

His gaze wandered over her face a moment before he replied. “No. And call me Zaid.”

Okay, he was definitely attracted, but not being overt about it. Duly noted. She could play along for now.

She started toward him, her professional defenses firmly in place, ready to deflect the slightest hint of flirtation from him. “All right. Zaid.” When she stepped through the open doorway, the others were already at the far end of the hall, giving them some privacy. “So, you’re headed back to Bagram now?”

“That’s the plan.”

She could be friendly without encouraging him. She’d become good at that since joining the DEA. “How is your team doing? It’s always hard to be so far away from family during a big holiday.”

“They’re okay. I think a few are a little homesick, especially one guy who has a young daughter back home. How are you doing?” he asked as he kept pace beside her.

She blinked at him. “Me?” No one ever asked her that around here. “I’m fine.” She didn’t celebrate Christmas, but the season still made the distance from her family seem sharper. They might not agree on a lot of matters, but they still loved one another and she missed them. It was lonely over here.

He gave a slow nod, his intent inspection of her face more intimate than she was comfortable with. “You do long deployments over here. How long this time?”

“Just under eleven months now, not including that whirlwind trip to D.C. in April.” Where she’d first met him and his team at FAST headquarters in Arlington. The same night she’d canceled the date with online Zaid.

She was dying to know if it was him, but thought it best not to dredge it up in case it was. Talk about awkward. Hey, um, sorry for canceling last minute like that, but I thought you were an asshole.

“That’s a long time. I remember how it felt doing long stints like that back when I was in the army. Ever get homesick?” He reached past her to get the glass door that opened up into another hallway. He had nice manners. She was all for opening her own doors in life, but she liked it when men showed that kind of courtesy that seemed to be dying out in today’s society.

“Thank you,” she murmured, and walked through. “Sometimes. My family’s good about regularly sending me messages and emails, though, and I try to call home at least once a week. More if I can. You?”

“Same. Actually, my mom just sent me a container of my favorite homemade cookies.”

Jaliya smiled. “That’s sweet.” Her family had just sent her a card and a framed picture of all of them taken when she’d been home last. It was on the bedside table in her hotel room.

Zaid shrugged, a slight grin tugging at his mouth. “She spoils me.”

“And you love every second of it.”

“Yeah, I really do.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Why does that not surprise me?’

“Why should it? Everyone loves to be spoiled now and then. You saying you never get spoiled?”

“Sometimes by my mom. My father is…” What was the right word for him? “He’s complicated. We tend to butt heads a lot.” About pretty much everything except for the importance of education, hard work and family.

“And who usually wins?”

“Neither of us. I just carry on and do my own thing in spite of his disapproval.” She’d gotten used to it over the years.

“Ah. Does he disapprove of a lot?”

“You could say I’m the black sheep of the family.”

He frowned, eyeing her in surprise, as though he couldn’t quite believe it. “Really?”

She nodded. “I know he loves me. Mostly he dislikes my choice of vocation, and my lack of conformity to his expectations about how I should practice my faith. I’m way too liberal and secular for his liking, not to mention stubborn. Although I get that part from him.” She shrugged as if it didn’t bother her, but a part of her would always hate feeling at odds with her father.

“Well, I know how that goes. My parents wish I was more conservative and traditional when it comes to religion too.” He shot her a grin. “Although at this point, they’ve given up on trying to make me conform. I won.”

She returned the grin as they continued down the hallway. It was easier for him to buck tradition because he was a guy. “That must be nice.”

“Do you observe Ramadan?”

“I observe the fasting and charity, but the rest I’m not so strict about. You?”

“Same. Although when I’m deployed I can’t always follow the rules. I need to eat and drink when I can so I’m mission ready.”

That made perfect sense. “This year’s going to be a bugger.”

He rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it. Late May to the end of June? Worst time of the year for it to fall on. I’m dreading it.”

“It’s gonna be torture.” A month of no food or drink—not even water—from sunup ‘til sundown every day during the longest period of daylight in the entire calendar year was no joke.

“You can email me to whine if you want. Misery loves company.”

She shot him a grin. Religion was such a controversial, intensely personal thing, and she didn’t like having other people’s interpretations of it shoved down her throat. So maybe she and Zaid had more in common than she’d realized. She and online Zaid shared that too.

They reached the end of the hall and Zaid opened the door to the building’s underground car park. “You doing anything tonight?” he asked.

She glanced at him in surprise. He’d been careful not to stray into flirting territory thus far, but this was dangling right on the edge of it. “Working, trying to track down Barakat so I can drag him back here and get some real answers out of him.”

“You gonna waterboard him?”

She gave a soft laugh. “I may have fantasized about it.”

His eyebrows rose. “Wow. Hardcore.”

Her lips quirked in a small smile. “Well, he’s pissed me off. Lied straight to my face, the little wanker, and ran off with our money.”

“Wow, wanker, huh? Is that like, a serious slur in England?”

“Deadly serious.”

“Okay, but after you waterboard him. You’re free then, right?”

She shrugged. “Who knows how long it’ll take? I’ve never tortured anyone before.”

“Still. You can’t work all night.”

“Sure I can.” She’d pulled all-nighters quite a few times when an investigation became intense. Whatever it took to get the job done.

He gave her an exasperated look. “You must take breaks.”

She thought about it for a second. “When I’m working on something important? Not really. Why, what are you getting at?”

“We’re planning a get together tonight after dinner. Hamilton and I thought it would be a good idea to take everyone’s mind off being away from home at Christmas. We’re gonna break out a board game or two, have some pumpkin pie. You interested?”

She stopped walking. It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say, and it sure didn’t sound flirtatious. He hadn’t asked her to go somewhere alone, just the two of them. “Really? You want me to come?”

“Yeah, I do. It’ll be fun, and you deserve some downtime after the way this week’s gone. Even if it’s only an hour or two.”

Huh. Sounded casual and innocent enough. She’d made up her mind not to fraternize with any of them, but she’d been working nonstop for so long and a tiny break like that sounded fun. And when was the last time she had any of that? “I do like pumpkin pie.”

“Do you like it with whipped cream, or plain?”

“Whipped cream, spread over the top in a layer at least an inch thick. I can’t stand it when people skimp on the whipped cream. I mean, why bother eating it then?”

“Okay, then I’ll make sure we have plenty of whipped cream, and…” He narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully. “Chocolate?”

Oh, she loved that even more than pumpkin pie. “Maybe I will come,” she said, and resumed walking. “Where and when?”

“Seven, in the rec room at our barracks.”

“Your barracks?” She raised her eyebrows at him and he laughed.

“Don’t look at me like that. Bring someone from your team with you if it makes you feel more comfortable.”

It would. She’d have to find someone to go with her. “And the others won’t have a problem with me being there?”

“No, not at all. The more, the merrier.”

“Okay. I’ll see how things go with the case tonight. I’ve got someone out looking for Barakat now, trying to find whatever hole he slunk back into.”

“Poor bastard. I kinda feel bad for him. Waterboarding by an amateur is almost worse than when it’s done by an expert.” Zaid looked around the rows of parked cars. The air temperature down here was warmer than outside. “Which one are you?”

“Over there.” She pointed to where two members of her team were waiting with a driver next to a silver SUV. He walked her over to it. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him it wasn’t necessary for him to escort her, but she held back. His intentions seemed courteous and protective, not overbearing.

Her team members got into the back of the vehicle, still talking amongst themselves. Zaid opened the front passenger door for her and stepped out of the way to let her in. Her cheeks flushed even as she wondered why he was being so courteous. Because he was trying to win her over? Because he was being protective? She couldn’t figure him out, and the devilish glint in his eyes told her he enjoyed whatever game he was playing.

“Thanks,” she murmured, setting her backpack in the foot well before climbing up into the seat. The vehicle was armor plated with bullet-resistant glass. Couldn’t be too careful over here. Americans and westerners in general had a lot of enemies.

“Welcome.” Zaid waited until she put her seatbelt on and looked over at him before continuing. He was close. Close enough for her to see the flecks of gold and green in his eyes, and the thick fringe of black lashes surrounding them. “So, I’ll see you later tonight then.”

He was insistent, but she wouldn’t make any promises. “If I can make it.”

One side of his mouth tipped up in a smug grin, and it was so damn sexy it had her imagining what it would feel like to cup that rugged, dark-bearded face between her hands and kiss those smiling lips. “You’ll make it.”

She fought a smile at his confidence as he shut her door. It was impossible not to like him.

The driver started the engine and drove them out of the car park. When she glanced in the side mirror, Zaid was still standing in the same spot, and raised a hand in farewell.

For some reason the gesture tugged at a deeply buried part of her.

Purposely looking away from the mirror, she mentally sighed. He was a complication she hadn’t foreseen, and one who, under different circumstances, she might have been tempted to try on for size.

Ten minutes later her vehicle was a few blocks from the hotel she and the others were staying at when a low rumble shook the ground. The driver stopped in the middle of the street and they all looked through the windshield as a huge plume of black smoke spewed into the cold, clear air.

“That’s right near our hotel,” Jaliya said, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket.

Before she could get it out, the driver’s phone rang. He answered in Dari, and she listened to his side of the conversation, gaining enough information to understand that there was a major problem. Whatever had caused the explosion, it must have been big.

With the phone to his ear, the driver glanced at her with a frown. “There’s been a suicide bombing outside your hotel. The entire area’s on lockdown.”

The blood drained from Jaliya’s face. Some of her team were there.

She looked back at the rolling cloud of black smoke billowing high into the sky above her hotel, her gut telling her two things. The location and timing were too much of a coincidence for her to believe it had been anything but a targeted attack.

And that meant her team was being hunted.