SUNDAY, ERBIL ROTANA, Erbil, Kurdistan.

Riley glanced at the bathroom door, listening to the sounds of Erin’s shower.

When this was over, he was going to miss her. She was a special kind of woman. It was too bad they’d met like this. In another time or place, maybe they could be more for each other. She’d made it clear from the beginning this was nothing more than sex, and he’d honor her wishes. She had enough on her plate. She didn’t need his baggage.

He checked the time once more.

Zain had given them a fifteen-minute warning before calling. Whatever it was, he doubted they were sticking to their simple plan of swinging by Erin’s office then heading to the airport. Last night had changed everything.

Why was it all the jobs lately weren’t the usual get in, get the asset and leave kind of gigs? Was there some cosmic reason? Or was it because the Aegis teams had pulled off the impossible enough times that people were taking notice?

It wasn’t Riley’s job to figure it out.

He finished gathering their things and stacking the room service for easy pickup.

The shower turned off. She’d be out momentarily. He wanted to be ready to leave when she was.

“How much time do I have?” she called out.

“Couple of minutes.” He glanced at the clock again.

She muttered to herself, words he couldn’t make out, but after this much time together he had a good idea what she meant.

“When this is all over, I’m spending a week in Florida at the beach,” she said, her voice reverberating off the tile walls.

“That sounds nice.” Riley, on the other hand, would probably head north to see his family and help wrap up baling.

“Okay.” The bathroom door opened and Erin stepped out. She pushed a hand through her wet hair. It was already beginning to curl and poof out after only a few moments. “I look like a fucking flower.”

Riley chuckled. Despite her protests, she’d had to take one of the flowing, flower print tops from the shop downstairs. Even the bright pink pants were a nice touch. It was by no means something that fit her personality, but the draping white fabric and bright colors brought out her feminine side. The one she tried to hide. He’d known enough women like her to guess at her motivations.

“You look nice. Come over here.” He sat at the small table where they’d shared a quiet breakfast instead of the lounge chair.

“Has Zain said anything yet?”

“Nope. He’ll wait till we’re all on, so he doesn’t have to repeat himself.” Riley couldn’t begin to imagine the hours Zain and the rest of the behind-the-scenes team between the two offices were putting in. Grant might not like hearing it, but having Melody part of that loop was probably going to save their ass someday.

Erin speared him with a look that almost cut. “I’m going to the office today, with or without you.”

“Where you go, I go, baby doll.” Those last two words popped out without conscious thought.

“Baby doll?” Erin’s nose wrinkled, and she made such a disgusted face that Riley laughed outright. “Just because I’m wearing something that looks like a muumuu designed to show my ass does not mean I’m anyone’s baby doll.”

“I’m just pulling your leg.” Pet names were a no go. Note made. A few more hours, and with any luck, they’d be at the airport and headed home to end this job soon.

The screen lit up with the main Aegis Group Seattle number.

“There they are.” Riley tapped the phone icon and flipped it to speaker phone. “Morning. Hope everyone got some sleep.”

“Is Erin still with you?” Grant asked. His tone was all business.

“Present and accounted for,” Erin said.

“Oh, thank God,” Melody muttered in the background.

“We need to keep this brief, so if everyone could please mute themselves and keep an eye on your phones?” Zain’s tone was weary. There was no telling how long it’d been since he’d slept.

Riley tapped the mic.

“Thanks, everyone.” Zain blew out a breath. “First, Grant and Melody—are either of you on speaker?”

“No,” Grant and Melody answered in unison.

“Good. Keep it that way,” Zain said.

Erin glanced at him, the lines around her mouth betraying her attempt at calmness.

“Second, is Thomas still with your team?”

“He is. Vaughn is sticking with him,” Grant replied.

“Erin, two years ago you were working on a project where there was an accident, and due to your report, the current defense contractor handling NexGen’s security got fired, correct?” Zain’s tone was building to something. Something Riley didn’t like.

He tapped the mic button.

“That’s true. Allied Security.” She glanced at him, the lines deeper now.

“Our buddy Thomas worked for Allied back before that incident,” Zain said.

“Shit,” Erin muttered.

Zain sighed before continuing. “It was a brief gig, but the guy has next to no on-the-books employment information, and he’s been in this region for the better part of five years. That tells me that Thomas has been working for someone before he got hired by your current security provider.”

“You think Thomas wasn’t there when the attack happened intentionally? I was a target.” Erin sat back in her chair.

“It’s pretty damn coincidental that a guy who worked for the company you campaigned to let go is now your personal bodyguard and never mentioned a damn thing about it,” Zain said.

“Erin got dragged through the mud for that, and we think the people holding her were related to the victims.” Riley stared at Erin’s face. He could read the lines of worry.

“Exactly,” Zain said. “If Thomas is in contact with Allied, then he’d be able to tell them where we were at all times and coordinate their attack on the safe house. We’re all lucky Riley and Erin went for a joy ride when they did.”

Erin winced and Riley glanced away even though Zain and Grant couldn’t see him. They all knew it wasn’t just a turn around the block, but this time breaking the rules might have saved their lives.

“NexGen hired us to bring Erin home. That’s it,” Zain said.

Erin opened her mouth. Riley shook his head.

There was a note in Zain’s voice, the kind that said he was about to go off the rails and do whatever the fuck he wanted to do. The thing that had brought Riley to Aegis was their dedication to doing the right thing. If they were on an op and they could help people, they did it. When they could bring people home safe and do the right thing, they got the job done. It was what set them apart.

“I am making NexGen aware of Thomas’ connection in the next half hour, but all that will do is get him fired. It won’t account for the danger he’s put our team, our asset, and the people around us in.” Zain was on a roll now. Whatever he’d uncovered and wasn’t sharing had him hot under the collar. “Melody?”

“Yes?”

“I am sending you the contact for the detective working yesterday’s break in. Save it, make it a speed dial, and get off this call,” Zain said.

“O-okay. Good luck, everyone.”

Erin glanced at Riley and mouthed, What?

“Plausible deniability,” he said.

“Erin? Do you have any idea why Thomas or Allied would target you after this long?” Zain asked.

Riley unmuted the phone for her.

“I—I can really only guess. A few months ago, another one of the PMs, Osman Elahi, died, and I inherited a stack of files I haven’t gone through. I was wondering if the reason for all this was in there.” She glanced at Riley. That was where they’d been headed last night when they left.

“Where are those files?” Zain asked

“My office.”

“We’re going to catch this motherfucker—sorry. We’re going to catch him.” Zain’s steely tone was an indicator they were throwing the full weight of their resources behind this.

Thomas and his Allied connections weren’t going to know what hit them.

SUNDAY, BEST INN, ERBIL, Kurdistan.

Thomas eyed his cards and then the pile of money sitting in the middle of the table. It wasn’t much, mostly some coins and a few bills, but it was the biggest pot they’d had all morning.

“Come on, you guys aren’t really going to let me take this?” Vaughn thumbed at the pot of money.

“You don’t have shit,” Nolan said without missing a beat.

“You don’t know that.” Vaughn grinned.

Thomas was ready to put a bullet in both men’s skulls. Their constant banter grated on his nerves. They wouldn’t stop talking, and yet they never said anything useful. Nothing at all about what they were doing to find Erin Lopez or what their next move was beyond lying low at the hotel.

For all he knew, the fifth team member had absconded with Erin and was out of the country already, which would mean they knew where Thomas’ loyalty lay and what he’d been doing here all along.

He eased back in his chair, slouching a bit, as though he could fall under their radar.

There was no fucking way they knew anything. His Allied connections were ancient history. Besides, plenty of guys like him made the rounds, working for different companies depending on which way the wind blew. Everyone knew that whoever got the contracts got the best manpower.

He swiped his hand back through his hair. Sweat dampened his scalp.

“Come on, make a choice already, Nolan,” Vaughn said.

“Fuck you.” Nolan tossed out another bill.

Thomas grimaced and matched the current bid. This was chump change, nothing serious, and he needed the distraction. Ever since the two in charge had excused themselves to the room across the hall Thomas had begun sweating it. He found out everything too damn late.

The door opened and the woman, Melody, stepped in.

“Who’s winning?” she asked.

“You know the answer.” Vaughn grinned. The guy had a flare for bravado that Thomas couldn’t stand.

“Oh, then that means you’re losing?” Melody smiled.

Nolan howled a laugh and slapped his thigh as though it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

God, Thomas couldn’t wait to be done with this job and back to his regular work.

“What’d the boss say?” Brenden, the quiet one, of the bunch asked.

“The boss?” Melody did a slow blink.

The table went quiet for a moment.

“Shit.” Brenden folded his cards and grimaced. “Grant said he was going to talk to Zain, I just thought that would include you...”

“I guess I’ll have to call Zain on my own.” Melody’s lips spread into a sweet smile.

She was really too nice for a job like this. Thomas actually felt sorry for her. This world was going to chew her up and leave her with nothing. She just didn’t belong.

The door opened again and Grant entered.

“Riley called,” he announced.

“About damn time.” Nolan tossed his cards down on the table.

That was the best thing Thomas had heard in hours.

“Is Erin still with him?” Melody asked.

“Yeah, yeah. They went to Erin’s house. We’re going to pack up our stuff, drop Thomas off, get them, and head to the airport.” Grant glanced around the room. “Whenever you guys get your shit together, we can go.”

“And then twenty-four hours on a plane home.” Vaughn groaned.

“Tell me about it.” Nolan tapped the table. “Let’s finish this hand and get packing. Thomas?”

“I’m out.” Thomas folded his cards. They were crap anyway.

“First one bites the dust.” Vaughn grinned.

“Grant, can I talk to you, please?” Melody’s sugar sweet tone spelled disaster for the other man.

“Sure.” Grant nodded and followed Melody from the room.

“You had to open your mouth?” Vaughn sighed and spared Brenden with a look.

The other man merely shrugged.

Thomas pushed to his feet and stretched.

After last night’s fuck up, Thomas had to be careful. Mark could no doubt get to Erin’s house before the team, but what if they got there at the same time? They couldn’t afford a mistake. There’d been too many already.

This whole episode proved why they had to be more careful about their clients. One unhappy customer forwarding their proof of completion video to someone and look where they were.

The customer was dead and rotting in the desert where no one would find him.

It’d taken more finesse to handle the man at NexGen their customer had reported them to.

And now they were back to dealing with Erin fucking Lopez.

This was a shit show, and if they didn’t plug all the holes, this boat would sink. America would want to take them to task, and no one in the Middle East would hire them again. Thomas and the others would have to get work in Africa or Asia, somewhere that couldn’t pay for shit or provide any kind of comfort. The only reason Thomas had gotten into this line of work was to make a fat stack of cash, quick, and get out. He had plans that didn’t include wasting away in this dust bucket.

He crossed to the bed he’d slept in and stretched out his feet. His bag was packed, so when the others were done all he had to do was pick up and go.

Thomas pulled out his phone and checked his messages. The others went back to their card game, ignoring him for the moment it took to tap out a text.

Lopez plus one are at her house. Team will drop me, then head to her location for flight to states.

When he’d drawn the short straw for this gig, he’d thought it would be easy. He could slip into Erin’s office early or late one day, find the DVD, and get out, none the wiser. But Erin was meticulous about keeping her office locked whenever she wasn’t there. The building security upgrades made it near impossible for him to break in without setting off alarms, which was why he’d been here as long as he had.

Thomas’ phone vibrated with a reply from Mark.

That’s not possible. Team on their location @ hotel.

Thomas didn’t know what to say to that except what he’d heard.

Their boss says they’re picking up Lopez and their guy at her house. Could the team have missed them?

A few agonizing moments went by before Mark replied.

Maybe. Go to the house. U r closer.

Fuck.

“Bam! What I tell you? Read ‘em and weep, girls.” Vaughn stood and displayed his cards.

Brenden and Nolan groaned while the other man gloated about his nickel-and-dime victory.

“Come on, let’s pack it up,” Nolan said.

“I got this. You guys go grab your bags.” Vaughn scooped up the money and cards.

“You good to go in a few?” Nolan asked Thomas on his way to the door.

“Yup.” Thomas had a small bag he’d as soon ditch as keep.

“Let’s try to be out of here in five,” Nolan suggested.

“It might take me more time to count my winnings,” Vaughn said.

“You don’t have enough fingers and toes for that.” Nolan flipped Vaughn off, then ducked through the doorway into the adjoining room.

Close to ten minutes later everyone was packed and downstairs. Thomas tried to play it cool, to not let on that in minutes they could be putting an end to the biggest threat to his personal security. With any luck, Mark and another team would beat them to Erin’s house, get her, the DVD and wrap this all up.

They loaded into the SUV, the trio of guys bantering while Grant and Melody gave each other the cold shoulder. Thomas couldn’t wait to be rid of these people.

Thankfully, it was only a ten-minute drive to the permanent headquarters of Ruddy Brothers Security, the current contractors with the NexGen job. Thomas almost threw himself from the vehicle when they pulled into the drive. That first breath of air, without their voice pollution, was heaven.

“If you’re ever in the market for a job that travels look us up,” Grant said by way of a farewell.

“I just may.” Thomas nodded.

Like hell he would.

The SUV turned around and left.

Thomas kicked his bag toward the office door and sprinted for the corner of the parking lot where he’d left his motorcycle. The only way he’d beat the SUV was by some creative driving. By his estimation, it was a good twenty-five minutes from here to Erin’s house if he took some shortcuts too narrow for a car. That would shave five to ten minutes off the road distance, not including time spent at security checks.

He threw his leg over the bike and started the engine, forgoing a helmet. There just wasn’t time. He whipped the bike around and merged into traffic, keeping to the shoulder and zipping past cars. He cut through parks and alleys all in a mad dash to arrive first. He even found a way to bypass a check point, shaving off crucial time. All in all, he arrived at Erin’s house with at least fifteen, maybe twenty minutes to spare. Not much, but he’d take what he could get.

@ Lopez house. Going in.

Thomas had been to Erin’s house twice a day, six times a week for a couple weeks. He’d had time to scope out her condo and make a plan for if he ever had to break in.

The building was at the end of a row. The front and side of the white building were exposed a high amount of street traffic, but the tiny back yard was sheltered by trees and a taller fence for some semblance of privacy.

He parked the bike a street over, on a quieter lane, and walked down to Erin’s house, keeping his head down. While he’d hoped that being part of her personal security would grant him a key, she’d never taken that step. Instead, Thomas had made his own. It was why he hadn’t been near her during the attack in the first place. Even if she was killed, they still had to get into her home and office to locate the evidence and destroy it.

Thomas let himself in through the back yard. He drew his knife, holding it in his left hand. There hadn’t been time to swap out his gun to one not registered to him. He couldn’t afford to use it, which meant relying on close quarter weapons and hoping he got the drop on them. If they were even here.

He peered through the rear windows into the home, but there wasn’t any movement. Not a soul inside that he could see. The lights and TV were off.

Still, this was his chance to get inside and have a look around. See if the DVD was here or not.

Thomas let himself in through the back door. The security system beeped, and he winced. Response time was down to ten minutes, and that was if Erin had a system that called the police. He’d be willing to bet that this one didn’t. She was too arrogant for that.

No other sound greeted him.

Erin and the man weren’t here.

Either Erin had lied to Grant and the others, or this was some sort of trap and the Aegis boys were onto them.

He had to be quick.

Thomas focused his attention on the dining table, which had likely never seen a meal. He picked up papers, scanned lines, but nothing caught his eye. Half of it was in Kurdish or Arabic. Maps obscured the wooden surface.

He pushed what he didn’t need onto the floor.

Minutes were precious.

Still, nothing that looked like a DVD, thumb drive or anything.

“Fuck!” He swept a whole pile onto the floor, sheets of paper falling like snowflakes.

There was no laptop or anything electronic.

It wasn’t here, which meant this was a waste of his time.

He pulled out his phone, jabbing Mark’s contact.

The phone went to voicemail.

“Yeah, it’s me. She’s not here. They’re onto us.” He ended the call and yanked the back door open.

A gun pointed at him.

Thomas stared at Grant, whose gaze was trained on his chest.

“Drop the knife,” he said.

Thomas couldn’t draw his handgun fast enough and he wasn’t wearing a vest. He let go of the knife and held his hands out.

They had nothing on him.

SUNDAY. ERBIL, KURDISTAN.

Mark jabbed the voicemail and prayed Thomas was held up in traffic.

“Yeah, it’s me. She’s not here, and neither is the disc. They’re onto us.”

“Fuck.” Mark tossed the phone into the passenger seat.

His team sitting on the Erbil Rotana had seen Erin leave with her escort, driving the same SUV as yesterday. Thomas was most certainly walking into a trap and on his own now.

Mark pulled off the street and snatched the phone, breaking it down into pieces.

They’d never used names. Mark didn’t leave voicemails. No one could trace the call to him and Thomas knew what would happen if he talked.

Mark pulled another phone from the cup holder and unlocked the screen.

There was no more time to wait. They had to end this today.

The call rang twice.

“Yeah?” the man on the other end said.

“You’re following them still?”

“I am.”

“I need you to let them go into NexGen. We’ll get them when they come out.”

He ended the call.

A sniper on the building across the street and a couple people poised to snatch whatever she dropped in the confusion should do the job. His men would scatter after and they’d lie low for a while until this blew over. Worst case, they lost Thomas. It was an acceptable cost of doing business in their world.