He was stuck again. Damn. He knew this dream. It started with the world going hazy. His eyes wouldn’t focus. He could shake his head, but somehow the world remained fuzzy. His stomach twisted and that was when he realized that whatever he’d eaten was about to come back up.

He was on his back. That wasn’t good. Even with the world spinning around him, he knew he couldn’t stay on his back. With sheer force of will, he turned just before the bile got to be too much.

So fucking weak. He needed to make it to the bathroom, but his gut wouldn’t wait. He got to his knees and then let it go. He shuddered and shook, but when it was done, he finally felt the tiniest bit better.

He moved away from the mess he’d made and tried to focus. This time it was a little easier.

“Phoebe?” He seemed to have some sort of flu. Or he’d eaten something he shouldn’t have. He couldn’t remember. Why couldn’t he remember? The last thing he could recall was Phoebe in his arms. She’d cried herself to sleep, but it had been a good thing. It had been healing.

Where was she?

Why was the ground under him so hard? Their room had plush carpet. Everything about it was luxurious, so why had his knees banged against what felt like concrete? He forced himself to really still. His eyesight finally stabilized and he could see the ground beneath him. Definitely concrete and not the pretty, stained kind. This was the color of dull steel.

He wasn’t in his room.

His back was to something. His hands were free so he reached around. A wall and then to his left was metal. Through the haze he recognized a cot. He’d been laid on the cot in a room he didn’t recognize.

“Hello, Mr. Murdoch. It’s a pleasure to see you.”

He was going to be sick again. That voice. Yes, this was a nightmare and he needed to wake up because he was going to scare Phoebe. He could get violent when he dreamed, but since he’d started sleeping with her, he hadn’t had the dream. Not even once.

His hands shook. Fine trembles that were as much about fear as they were the shaky state of his body. He was afraid. He’d always hated that, didn’t want people to see it. After he’d come home the first time and started seeing Eve and then Kai, he’d told them he wasn’t afraid. It was a lie meant to save face. And then Ian had sat him down with a beer one night and told him that only a fucking idiot wasn’t afraid and that fear was a gift to help the intelligent creatures of the world not get their asses blown away.

So he was willing to admit just how scared he was and somehow in accepting it, he was able to control it.

“I see you’re not as used to our cocktails as once you were. I’ll have them dial down the dosage for next time. I don’t want you to be sick. I need you good and healthy for our training sessions.” The voice had a deep, almost hypnotic quality to it. Just the sound of it sent him back years to that horrible place where he wasn’t Jesse Murdoch anymore, to where he was someone’s dog to be beaten and abused.

His vision started to fade again. That was when he realized this might not be a dream. In his dreams, he always stayed in control and fought. He was a better version of himself in his dreams. In real life, he retreated and let some fucking beast take over. Or he gave in to the drugs and pretended nothing was wrong.

“You’re wondering if you’re dreaming,” the voice mused. His shoes rang against the concrete as he moved closer. “Aren’t you? Let me ask you this. What would be worse? Learning that this is the only reality? That the last few years were only a dream brought on by the narcotics I gave you? In that scenario you’ve really lost nothing, but you gained nothing as well. Your woman was simply a dream. Or is it worse if she’s reality and you’ve lost her?”

This was what the fucker did. He loved to put scenarios out there. He could talk all day.

He could talk all day.

If the Caliph was talking, then time was passing, precious time Jesse needed.

“I don’t know. I think she was real. It felt real.” Phoebe was real. She was the realest thing in the world. He looked around, trying to take stock. He was weak now, but there might come a time when he could try to get out of here. “Is she here?”

He fought back the urge to dive deep. He had to stay in control. He had to figure out what had happened. Where was Phoebe? How had he gotten here?

A small room. There was a door, but he could see it was sturdy, likely reinforced. He glanced around. One window, but it was barred. There was nothing in the room at all except a cot, a bucket, and shackles attached to the far wall. He could only imagine what that was for.

Hani al Fareed looked down at him. Yes, it was the younger of the two brothers. Now that Jesse was close, he could match the man to his file. He focused on the man, really seeing him for the first time he could remember. The Caliph was in his forties, with a handsome face and cold eyes. He’d taken off his white robe and was dressed more casually in loose white cotton pants and a tunic. “Would you be frightened if she was here?”

Sometimes honesty was best with the Caliph. He tended to see through the lies, and there was punishment until he got the answer he wanted. Jesse nodded. “Yes.”

There was no way to hide the fact that he loved Phoebe. The last thing he remembered he’d been in bed with her, so they’d either killed her or left her behind.

If Phoebe was dead, he would let that beast out. It wouldn’t matter anymore. Nothing would matter if Phoebe was gone because she was the one. Kai had said something about his love saving him, but it was his love for Phoebe and only Phoebe. If she was gone, he wasn’t sure what would happen, but it would be nasty and bloody and wouldn’t end well.

“You like the female? Perhaps that’s a good place to start. You know I have no formal training in psychology, but it’s been an obsession of mine since childhood. I would watch my father train dogs. People are like dogs, though they often require more pain to learn a lesson. You know if you properly train a dog, you can give them as much pain as they can take and they will still defend you.”

“Like Ace.”

“Yes, much like your brother.” The Caliph stared at him for a moment. “You’re an interesting subject. I wasn’t able to modify your behavior before. I believe I simply didn’t have enough time, though some of my colleagues claim you’re simply too stupid to change. Maybe I didn’t have the proper motivation. If I bring out your female sexual partner, would that change? Would you do my bidding if it meant she was safe from pain? From rape? Rape is always a good way to control a female, but oftentimes it can only be used once to control a male partner. At least in my world, that’s true. Women lose their value when they’re tarnished. How many times could I fuck her before you would see her as a whore?”

That was an easy answer. “I don’t know a number big enough.”

He chuckled. “I don’t understand Western men. You don’t see the true and only value of a woman. You marry non-virgins and then expect them to be faithful. You’re all fools. And no, I do not have her. She was not in bed with you when we took you, so she escaped, though now I think that was a mistake on my part. Do you think she was cheating on you? It’s what women of your culture do.”

Jesse didn’t give a flying fuck what that asshole thought about his culture. He valued Phoebe for more than her sex, more than his singular possession of her body. He loved her soul and the Caliph couldn’t touch that, so no matter what happened to her, he would still love her, still want her.

And she would want him.

The truth settled over him. The Caliph could do his worst. He could beat him, batter him, get him hooked on drugs again, but as long as he held on to his soul, Phoebe would love him. Phoebe would stay with him. She would be there when he came out of this.

The deep need to regress, to give over to the darkness, faded. It always seemed to be there, something he had to fight back, but now that place was filled with something else. Her. He didn’t need the darkness if he had her.

She was alive. The Caliph rarely lied. His truths tended to be the things of nightmares, and he’d once told Jesse that the master didn’t bother to lie to his dog. Phoebe was alive and that meant Ten would protect her.

And Simon would look for him. His partner would do everything in his power to find him. That Brit wouldn’t stop. The only question was could he keep Phoebe from getting in trouble because Jesse doubted she would stop either.

“No. She wasn’t cheating on me.” She’d likely gotten up to talk to her brother, to explain why she wasn’t going back to DC.

He needed to give them time. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but they were likely still in the UAE. Simon would have his best shot if he could find Jesse before they took him to Saudi or some other country. Jesse had to find a way to give his partner that time.

The Caliph liked to talk. The Caliph didn’t bother to lie. Why not buy a little time with some conversation? He had a few questions for the man.

“Why bother with me? Why come and get me at all? Was it about concealing your identity? You know I can talk all I like. No one will believe me.” He had a unique opportunity for information gathering.

“Why did you fake your own death? What was the purpose of that?”

“I thought you would send someone else after me. And I thought you might avoid the conference if you knew I would be there. If I was dead, I couldn’t be there. That is why you sent Ace to kill me, right?”

His lips curled up slightly. “I didn’t want to kill you. I’m sure that surprises you, but the choice to kill you was not my own, but my business partner’s. When I learned that you would be here in Dubai, I was excited again. It’s been years since I had such a challenge. No. I didn’t want to kill you. I wanted to collect what was mine and finish the job. However, I agreed to send your brother after you to appease my partner.”

His brother. God, al Fareed didn’t even understand the meaning of the word. “Your business partner was afraid I would recognize you?”

One shoulder shrugged as though it was not of great matter to him. “Again, I didn’t believe it would truly harm me, but apparently you have some powerful friends now. Don’t worry. My partner is busy discrediting them. Once their reputations are in threads, no one will listen anymore.”

“You’re behind the Agency recalling Ten.”

“No. I have nothing to do with the CIA. I find them to be distasteful. I leave that to my partner. Note, I do not call him my friend. He is distasteful as well, but compromises must be made. Once I have all I need, I’ll cut ties with him in the most profound way possible. I will enjoy it. Now, soon we will be traveling. I think it’s time for you to come to my home. I can take my time there, properly assist you in understanding your true place in the world.”

His place was with Phoebe and his family. Again, the need rose to fight, to argue, to scream. None of that would help him. That kind of rage was for men with nothing to hope for. For men with no faith.

Faith was what he lacked the first time. He could see it now. He’d been an animal fighting for his life purely out of instinct. Now his fight was defined and deeply emotional. His fight was to survive to get home to her.

His faith versus the Caliph’s.

He bowed his head. “I would love to hear what you say, Caliph.”

His eyes narrowed. “Really? Is this a new tactic? Your prior tactics were always so physical.”

“That didn’t work. Nothing really worked. I’ve been back in the real world for a while now. They don’t see any value in what I have to offer. You read the papers I’m sure. Even my new boss only sees me as a body to put in front of the employees he does care about.” The Caliph might not care to lie, but Jesse had discovered a little lie could go a long way. “I cared about the girl. I did, but she’s Agency. She’ll leave me behind in a heartbeat. You’re the only one who ever gave a damn about what happened to me.”

There was a moment of silence, a tension Jesse could feel despite the languor of the drugs still weighing him down.

“I will think on this,” the Caliph said. He stood abruptly. “In the meantime, I believe you should be punished for killing your brother. Was it you who pulled the trigger?”

“He was trying to kill me at the time.”

“It matters not. It merely shows me that you forget who your master is. I decide if you live or die. I am your god. Let this be a reminder.”

The door opened and Jesse watched as two of the Caliph’s guards entered, one carrying a four-foot bullwhip. Jesse was fairly certain the asswipe wasn’t as good with it as he’d become. He could wield that whip with delicacy, never opening up a sub’s skin. That wouldn’t be the case today because that whip was like anything else—a tool. Jesse would use it for pleasure and this man would torment him with pain.

“See if you can get him to break. I don’t like this calm in him. He’s different,” the Caliph said in Farsi. “I need the dog back.”

He didn’t fight as they tied him to the wall. There was no point. He would need his strength.

When the first blow struck, he closed his eyes and thought of her.

* * * *

Phoebe tried not to panic as she washed her hands, but all of her training was going right out the door. She was supposed to stay cool and collected, but she could feel the tears streaming down her face.

He was gone.

She looked at the clock. Morning had broken and now he’d been missing for an hour and thirty-nine minutes.

She looked into the bathroom mirror and saw the face staring back. Pale. Haunted. She’d seen it before. After Jamie had gone missing, this face had stared right back at her. Widow. It didn’t matter that she and Jesse hadn’t technically been married. She would be his widow.

A sharp knock broke the silence. “Hey, princess. You through in there?”

Erin. God, she’d hidden in the bathroom to get away from everyone. The minute they’d realized Jesse was missing, Ten and Simon had jumped into action. They’d had Hutch, Chelsea, and Adam attempting to track the helicopter. They’d managed to find a security feed that showed a man being taken to the rooftop helipad and the chopper flying off.

His face had been down, his head covered in a keffiyeh. The helicopter was owned by al Fareed Oil. According to all the reports, it had been cleared to land at the hotel to take a very sick party member to the hospital.

There was no record of it arriving at any hospital in the UAE.

How far could they have gotten?

She couldn’t stand listening to them as they discovered absolutely nothing. Every trail seemed to come up cold.

“Or have you just gone ahead and hanged yourself?” Erin’s voice once again separated her from her thoughts. “Be sure to use something sturdy. Too many people try shower curtain rods. They never hold up.”

Erin’s sarcasm was exactly what she needed to make the morning complete. Phoebe slammed the door open. “What is your problem?”

Erin looked her over. “Good to see you still have a little fight left.”

Phoebe started to move past her. If Erin wanted the bathroom, she could have the fucking bathroom. Phoebe could find another place to wait.

Wait for the news. Wait to find out if Jesse was gone forever. How long would she wait this time? At least she’d been able to surround herself with Jamie’s things the last time. She’d been able to sleep in their bed, find refuge in their home.

She and Jesse had just started out. The first place they’d made love was smoldering ruins now. How much more was going to be taken from her?

“Or not. You going to hide in the closet this time?” Erin followed her into the bedroom.

“Fuck off.”

Erin stopped, shaking her head as she looked Phoebe over. “You know, I think I will go and do something else. You’re useless. I have a friend to find. I don’t need to babysit a whiny little bitch.”

“Whiny little bitch?” Shooting Erin would make her feel better. Infinitely better.

“If the offensively titled shoe fits, I think you should wear it.”

“My fiancé is out there in the hands of the same man who nearly killed him and you’re calling me names?”

“Well, you’re running away from the problem and I’m not known for my sensitivity. I skipped that class in school. All those dudes out there will pat you on the head and tell you to go cry and try to protect you, but I’m going to tell you the truth.”

What arrogance. “And what’s your version of the truth, Erin?”

“Not a version. This part is black and white with no gray. Your brother is out there putting his job on the line for Jesse. Me and Si, we’ll put our lives on the line for him. Theo and Hutch, they missed that plane, too. The Agency isn’t going to give a shit that they did it for a good reason. They’ll lose a lot because they’re willing to sacrifice for a teammate. And what are you doing? You’re crying in the bathroom like an eighth grade girl at a dance.”

Anger started to thrum through her system. She had to admit that it was better, more invigorating than the utter despair she’d been feeling. “You think I wouldn’t sacrifice for him? You think I wouldn’t do anything to take his place?”

“I think you’re fantasizing because that’s not going to happen. I think if you keep moping around, you’re going to hate yourself a couple of days from now. You Agency fucks don’t have the balls for the real game. You spent too much time behind a computer and not enough in the real world or you would be in there helping.”

There wasn’t anything to do. They didn’t even have permission from command to still be in this country. They had no real backup. No resources. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Erin had her hair pulled back, making her look even more stark than usual. “Oh, I understand. I understand entirely too well. I understand that in your mind, he’s already dead because it’s easier to just face it than it is to fight knowing that the outcome will likely be the same. I understand that you already lost one husband and you feel like you’re cursed. I totally get that he’s out there and we got nothing. No clues. No leads. We’ve got no map and not a single direction.”

That summed up the devastating situation they found themselves in perfectly. “So what do you want me to do?”

Erin got in her face. “I want you to suck it the fuck up, sister, because it’s go time and there’s no crying in the bathroom until we have a body on our hands. Until I have visual confirmation that Murdoch is dead, he’s alive, and that means we have a chance to find him. I do not give up and I will not allow you to. It makes us look like pussies, and we both know pussies get a bad rap. So suck it up because I think they’re on the wrong track.”

Phoebe refused to back down. “And what track is it you think they should be on?”

Erin groaned and took a step back. “Fuck if I know. I’m the muscle here. You’re supposed to be the one with all the damn brains. I like to shoot people, not outthink them. Take two seconds to breathe and then clear your mind. If this were just a mission, what would you do?”

For the first time since she realized Jesse was gone, she took a deep breath and tried to banish her fear. Erin was getting to her, reminding her that there really was a job to do and that job wasn’t to worry. It was time to take action. “I would take stock of my resources.”

“Okay. What are our resources?”

“A couple of guns no one will resupply, four Agency trained operatives, two otherwise trained operatives. A little cash.”

“Don’t forget the nerd squad. I assume they can wire us cash if we need it. And Hutch has like fifteen pounds of candy, so we won’t starve. That dude is like made of sugar. And I’ve got enough bullets for Bertha to take out a good portion of this country. I also brought a sniper rifle, some C-4, and a dozen flashbangs.” Erin shrugged. “A girl likes to be prepared. So we can totally start a war if we want to.”

If Phoebe was running an Agency team, she would hire Erin in a heartbeat. “We have to figure out where to look. We can’t just start blind. What do we know about al Fareed?”

“One brother is still here. He’s at the conference according to Kamdar’s guys. It’s the older brother, Ibrahim. No sign of Hani.”

“That tells us nothing except they’re trying to keep up appearances.” Phoebe started to pace, her mind revving up. “Although if they’re smart, Hani will make an appearance, too.”

“He’s set to give a speech this evening. It would be news if he missed it.”

This was good. “He won’t. He’s too smart to skip that meeting. It gives him an alibi. So they’re potentially holding Jesse somewhere in Dubai. They’re set to go back to Saudi tomorrow afternoon. They need everything to go according to plan. They won’t take Jesse on that plane. They have to expect we’ll look for him.”

“I think they expect we’re all going home. At least the Agency types are going home. Do you think the Agency knows about me and Si?”

“Probably. I don’t know. Ten wouldn’t have told them. So how did they know?”

“Unless they have an operative here themselves.”

“Ten would have known.”

Erin stared at her, disbelief plain in her eyes. “I don’t think Tennessee is in the Agency loop anymore. You ask me, they’re going to take him down.”

“He still has friends there. He would have known if there was another team working this conference.” But there were other options. “He might not know if someone inside the Agency is feeding a civilian party information.”

“Another mole?”

Phoebe didn’t think so. “Al Fareed had to have had a contact. If he wasn’t Agency, then he’s likely someone connected politically.”

“I hate the spy shit. Give me someone to shoot any day of the week.” Erin sighed as she looked around the bedroom. “You and Murdoch do it on the couch?”

“No. Why is that any of your business?”

She sank down and spread out. “Because I do my best thinking sitting down, but I don’t want to get gross stuff all over me.”

Finally she could get the tiniest bit of revenge. “Oh, in that case, I totally lied to spare myself the embarrassment of admitting we did it everywhere. Bed, bathroom, shower, against the window that now has a gaping hole in it. And definitely on that couch.”

Erin popped back up and flipped her the finger. “You suck, Grant.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “I did that, too.” There wouldn’t be an inch of that hotel she wouldn’t associate with Jesse.

Not an inch. Or a room. She would remember the ballroom where she’d had to save him. It was the first time she’d really realized that she had something to give him past a few nights in bed. He’d needed her. If only she’d been a little quicker in getting rid of that douchebag…

The douchebag who claimed he was a spy. The best lies always had a grain of truth.

“Where’s the senator? More importantly, where’s his aide?”

“You talking about the asshat we tagged the other night?”

She’d forgotten about him in her haste to find al Fareed. “There’s a connection I’m not making here and it runs back further than we thought. We’ve always known The Collective had politicians in their pockets.”

Erin strode to the bathroom, turning on the water and scrubbing her hands. “I think I need to change clothes.”

“Are you OCD?”

She shrugged. “A little. I don’t like germs. They’re like predators waiting to take us down. The flu is like a battle in your own body and god, I hate mucus.”

 “Pay attention, soldier. Eli Nelson worked for The Collective, more specifically, he worked against anything that might have disrupted big oil interests.” The pattern was suddenly right there. Oh, it was circumstantial, but she’d learned that the rules tended to apply to most mysteries, no matter what Hollywood’s twisty-turny movies would say. The easiest path between two points was a direct line.

She could draw that line. She just needed one little piece of information to make it all click.

Without another word to Erin, she walked out of the bedroom. The living area was a hum of activity. Simon and Hutch were both at laptops. Theo was moving luggage into the hallway, and Ten was on his cell.

“We have a situation. I explained that to you, you little piece of shit bureaucrat. Get me to the director. I don’t care what time it is.” Ten grimaced and brought the phone back down. “They won’t put me through.”

Theo stacked their equipment. “That’s not a good sign.”

Ten turned and his face softened when he saw her. “Hey. Why don’t you go lie down for a while, sweetheart? I’ll tell you if we find anything.”

Erin was right. She hated when Erin was right. Ten was going to treat her like she was made of glass. She wasn’t and she had to pull it together because she was not losing another man she loved. She wasn’t going to lose Jesse. Not without one hell of a fight.

She’d asked herself how long she would have to wait. She knew the answer. She wouldn’t wait at all. This time she was stronger. This time she would be the one searching. If she’d done anything wrong when Jamie died, it was leaving the fight to Ten. She was stronger than that, strong enough to search and never stop. If she was an old woman with a fucking cane, she would still look for her husband because Jesse would endure. He would trust her and find a way to survive.

Faith. She had to suck it the fuck up, as Erin so lovingly put it, and have a little faith.

“I’m not going back to bed. I need to see Ace’s file. I don’t care how the hell we get it. I’ll pay the nastiest hacker in the world to figure out who wrote his recommendation.”

“I am the nastiest hacker in the world, thank you very much,” a voice from her left said. “Turn me around, babe. I believe Hermione is impugning my reputation.”

Simon turned his laptop and Chelsea Weston glared out at her from the screen.

“You know calling me Hermione isn’t an insult,” Phoebe explained. “She was kind of badass.”

“Yeah, well, she was also in a kid’s book, so there’s that.”

She wasn’t ever going to win with Chelsea. “What do you have on Ace?”

Even through the screen, she could see the way Chelsea flushed. “They’ve purged his records. I need something else. I need somewhere to look. The Internet’s a big fucking place.”

“Politicians keep records.” She was taking a big step that would likely blow up in her face, but she had to do it. “I need you to hack into Senator Hank McDonald’s files.”

“Phoebe!” Ten put his phone down, staring at her in obvious shock. “You’re talking about a United States senator.”

And why wouldn’t he be shocked? She’d been the perfect little Agency soldier. She’d done everything she was told, with the singular exception of ignoring the kill order on Jesse Murdoch. She played everything by the book because that’s the way her father taught her. But this wasn’t her father’s Agency anymore and she wasn’t going to let a man she loved die because she couldn’t take a chance.

“On it.” Chelsea’s eyes lit up and her hands flew across the keys.

Simon shook his head and took a long breath as though he was used to worrying about the NSA showing up at his house.

“Phoebe, do you know what they’ll do to you?” Ten asked quietly.

“I don’t care. He’s involved, Ten. I can feel it. He’s the connection. He’s the line between Eli Nelson and Hani al Fareed and The Collective.”

“He’s also a goddamn United States senator with the kind of pull you can’t even imagine.” Ten put his hands on her shoulders. “This is the kind of thing that gets an operative killed.”

“Then what are we fucking fighting for, Ten? He doesn’t get to use us. He doesn’t get to dishonor his vows and sell out his country. And as far as I can tell, we’re the only ones who can even try to stop him. If I’m right, he’s already cost me one husband. I won’t let him take another. I’ll take him down even if I have to go down with him.”

“Bingo. Son of a bitch has a file of recommendations,” Chelsea said. “Mostly it’s kids getting into military academies, but Ace Monroe is here. There’s no recommendation for the CIA job, but Ace’s father worked on McDonald’s campaign for Congress way back when. He wrote the recommendation that got Ace into the Air Force Academy. There’s your connection.” Chelsea winced. “He also has some e-mails to al Fareed. They date back years. He asks how al Fareed’s experiments are going. He knew what the fucker was doing. Phoebe, I think you’re right. There’s nothing here that would hold up in a court of law, but when you put it together, there’s only one logical conclusion.”

Ten had gone a little pale, but he wasn’t arguing.

Hutch stood up. “Sir, I request permission to leave.”

Ten frowned. “Of course. The next plane home will be here in an hour.”

Theo moved in beside Hutch. “Me, too, sir. But Hutch isn’t talking about leaving the team or the operation.”

“No, sir,” Hutch agreed. “I’m not going anywhere but downstairs to where that motherfucker is probably eating breakfast. I intend to lop off his dick and shove it down his throat.”

Theo nodded in agreement. “He sold out Ace. He sold out Murdoch. I don’t know why, and I don’t give a shit. He needs to be brought to justice. One way or another.”

Ten looked at his men. “Do you understand what this means? What you’re giving up? They won’t let this go lightly. We’ll be disavowed if we go after this man. He’s probably the very one who’s influencing the director to call us back. You don’t understand how bad this could get.”

“I’m in. So’s Case and so’s Mike and Boomer,” Theo said.

Hutch nodded. “I’m in and we’ve got Bear and Deke, too. They’re waiting to come over if we need them. Screw the Agency, Ten. We’re your team. We follow you. And hell, if it worked for the damn A-Team, I figure it’s good enough for me. Disavow me.”

They weren’t alone. Ten wasn’t alone.

He stepped forward and put his hand out, reaching for Theo, who grasped it. Theo shook Ten’s hand and then Ten hauled him in for a hug. They did the manly back beating thing and then Ten turned and brought Hutch in for the same.

He took a deep breath when he stepped back and he looked over at Phoebe. “All right, sister. He’s your man. This is your op. What do you want to do?”

“Erin, I need you to sweet talk Kamdar into lending us one of his men. There’s no way we get close to the senator, but I think Albertson knows everything he does. We need to get him up here and we need to find out what he knows.” She steeled herself. “By any means necessary.”

“Thank god.” Erin started for the door. “I’ll have that fucker up here before you know. Please let me do irreparable harm to his man parts. It’s been a long time.”

Theo practically stumbled, trying to run after her. “I’ll just go and make sure she doesn’t need backup.”

Ten stared after him. “That is the single dumbest boy I’ve ever met. Did he not hear her talk about man parts?”

Hutch sank back into his chair. “The course of true love never did run smooth, boss. I’ve got a list of properties in the UAE owned by al Fareed Oil and its many, many subsidiaries. Adam’s trying to pull them up on CCTV, but there’s a lot of blind spots.”

She looked over Hutch’s shoulder. It was a long list. “Dismiss the large buildings. I need something small and possibly deserted. He works in private.” And she was going to have to work the same way. “Simon, could you please set up a room where we can meet with the senator’s aide?”

Simon stood up and adjusted his tie. “Of course. We’ll use the back bedroom. Have Kamdar’s guards keep the cleaning staff out.” He started to walk away and then turned. “Give me your list of questions, Phoebe. Write it down. You won’t be involved in this.”

“I will.”

Ten shook his head. “No. Simon and I will take care of it.” He stepped up and put his hands on her shoulders. “You don’t understand how this can affect you. Murdoch does and he would be the first person to beg one of us to save you from this.”

“Phoebe, I can’t allow it,” Simon explained. “I know what my partner would want and I know what he would do for me. This isn’t some game. This is torture and pain, and if there was any other way, I would take it because it’s not what humans should do to one another.”

“He’s right. This is a sacrifice you don’t have to make.” Ten’s face turned grave. “I took these sins on my soul a long time ago. I’m not going to let you do it. Hell, I wouldn’t let Murdoch do it and Simon, you can be in the room, but I’ll handle the actual questioning.”

“Ten…” Simon began.

Ten shook his head. “You haven’t done this before. You have to be able to go home to your wife and sleep at night, brother. Hell, I don’t sleep at all anyway.”

She could see this was a losing battle. “I’ll listen in and feed you questions if you really think I can’t handle it.”

Ten frowned. “I know you can, but I don’t want you to see me like that. Can you understand?”

She hugged her brother and wondered how much he’d sacrificed over the years. He was giving up his career, possibly his freedom, for her and Jesse. “I do. I love you, Tennessee.”

He nodded and he and Simon went back to set up the room.

Phoebe sat and did the one thing she didn’t want to do. She waited.