Hawk heard the thumps first, then the voices. He limped over to the clump of vegetation that screened his view. He was in no hurry. He had known for some time that they were being watched.
Pushing through a leafy shrub, he came upon a sight that brought a grin to his lips. Hell, who would have thunk it? He approached the man standing nearby. The man didn’t turn. Both of them watched the two women going at it for a few seconds.
“Mine’s going to win for sure,” the man said.
“Sorry, Kisser. I have the winner. Why do you think I let you attack her? I knew she could take you down.”
They finally exchanged glances. The other man looked him up and down.
“Sorry, cuz,” he drawled. “She had other things on her mind when she jumped me. That’s why Lena is a bit…ah…mad. Your companion was overly enthusiastic about straddling me.”
Hawk narrowed his eyes. Amber on top of Steve, he could take. Amber being amorous with him was a different matter altogether. “Did she tongue you?” he asked, remembering a certain incident when Marlena, Steve’s wife, had mistaken Hawk for Steve and had been rather amorous herself.
“She was about to,” Steve said, a corner of his mouth lifting.
Marlena must have stopped her just in time. Good thing. Steve would have gotten revenge, even at the risk of being beaten up by both his wife and cousin. Hawk’s grin widened. “Well, then, I still win,” he mocked. “M. will never let you near Amber now.”
A small branch flew over Steve’s shoulder. “That’s the way to do it, babe,” he called out approvingly. “Ohhh. Nice move there. Trust you to end up with a woman in the middle of the woods, Hawk.”
“She’s my guide,” Hawk said. Among other things.
Steve glanced at him briefly. “Since when have guides in Albania lost their bad breath and facial hair? Did she do that number on your pretty face, by the way?”
Hawk grinned. “Why, you afraid my woman’s gonna do the same to your wife?”
Steve gave a snort and looked back at the two fighting women. “Lena will kick my ass if I jump in there and stop her in the middle of a cat fight. Your woman, huh?”
Hawk crossed his arms and leaned back against a tree trunk. “Yes.” And it felt good saying that. He had seen the possessive looks his cousin had given Marlena the first time he had met her in D.C. and had wondered at what made a man feel like that about a woman. Now he knew. He looked at Amber, busy dodging Marlena’s kicks, and felt a rush of masculine satisfaction knowing that they belonged together and there was no doubt in his mind that he had every right to call her his woman. He wanted to be with her more than anything else. And if it meant staying in Macedonian hell awhile after this was over to convince her, he would do it. The decision was made just like that.
He straightened from his pose. “Come on, shark bait,” he said to his cousin. “We’ll be brave SEALs and go in there together.”
“But Lena’s winning,” Steve protested as they walked into the fray.
Both of them parted the women. Steve wrapped his arms around Marlena from behind; Hawk blocked one of Amber’s punches and swung her over his shoulder. Both women immediately turned their attention to their captors.
“Put me down right now,” Amber said, her voice breathless from exertion.
“Can’t have you girls making all that noise, babe,” Hawk said. “Now, now, you don’t want to kick my injured ribs, do you?”
She gave a rude snort but stayed still, letting him stride a few steps away from the other couple. He had to smile. She really didn’t want to hurt him.
He looked over at his cousin, who seemed to be having a more difficult time placating Marlena. “But Lena,” he heard Steve say, amusement in his voice, “she attacked me.”
“You didn’t have to enjoy it so much when she was on top of you trying to lick you off.”
Hawk slid Amber off him and brushed twigs from her hair. “Lick?” he murmured. “You licked another man in front of me?”
“I did not lick him! And I thought…never mind what I thought. Who are those two?”
“He’s my cousin and she’s his wife. She was just mad to see you licking her husband, so I don’t blame her.” He cupped Amber’s face. “Am I not enough for you, that you have to attack some other woman’s husband?”
Amber stuck a tongue out at him childishly. “He looked like you,” she said, and cast a glance at the squabbling couple a few feet away. “Well, in these shadows he did.”
Hawk and Steve had been mistaken for each other since they were kids, so he couldn’t blame her. His cousin was more like a brother to him, and they had both had their share of pranks blamed on each other through their childhood. “He’s uglier,” he told her.
Steve glanced over. “I heard that, Rocky Balboa. You’re the one with cuts all over your face.”
Lena turned to look at Hawk, too. “Are you injured, Hawk?” She sounded surprised, her anger gone. “Who hurt you?”
“Good question,” Steve said, and released his wife now that she was no longer trying to hurt him.
“But why would you suddenly bump into your cousin in the middle of the woods in Albania?” Amber asked.
“That’s another good question,” Hawk said, looking at his cousin. “Strange coincidence.”
“It’s part of our honeymoon,” Marlena said, smiling, as she and Steve walked over. “We thought since you didn’t show up for our wedding, we’d come see you for our honeymoon.”
Marlena Maxwell—Marlena McMillan now, he supposed—was one of GEM’s premier covert operatives. She was known in the underworld as the world’s most glamorous assassin. When Hawk had first met her, they were in the middle of a gun battle. Steve had asked him for help to save her, but from the way she had coolly picked off the enemy, she seemed able to take care of herself quite well. Hawk liked her. She was definitely a good match for his cousin.
“Well, then, I’d better make some friendly introductions,” Hawk said. “This is Amber, Marlena. Amber, this is Marlena, and Steve, my cousin.”
Marlena’s smile dimmed a little as she studied Amber. Hawk noticed Amber was doing the same thing to the other woman.
“Nice form,” Marlena said.
“You’re okay, too,” Amber said, eyes narrowing just a fraction. “Are you always so impetuous about starting a fight?”
Marlena deliberated for a second, then her face broke into a smile. “Yes,” she drawled, “but only with the worthy ones.”
Amber blinked, then laughed. “Good to know I’m one of them.”
“I’ll have to teach you other ways to get rid of the flies,” Marlena said.
“Flies?”
Marlena’s expression was mischievous as she looked at Hawk. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how delicious the McMillans can be,” she drawled, and comfortably leaned against Steve when he wrapped his arms around her. “Trust me. You’ll need to talk to me about the flies.”
Hawk grinned back at Marlena. “You haven’t changed a bit since I last saw you.” Always teasing. Never boring.
“Darling, you have.” The other woman looked critically at him. “Now tell me who beat you up like that so I can take care of them for you.”
Hawk felt Amber nudging his side. “I can take care of him,” she cut in smoothly.
He grinned at Steve and shrugged. “What are you good for these days, Kisser?” he asked.
Steve shrugged back. “If I tell you, you’ll be deathly afraid,” he deadpanned.
It was definitely great to see familiar faces from his real life. However, it also reminded him of why he and Amber were there. “So, seriously, you two didn’t just appear in this no-man’s-land to honeymoon, and happen to bump into me. Tell me.”
“It is our honeymoon, just a bit late. We decided to do a little side trip, that’s all. Remember Harden, my old OC from the CIA?”
Hawk recalled that Rick Harden was the operations chief of a CIA task force Steve had been sent to infiltrate a while back. He was the one who had almost had Marlena killed. “Yeah. He causing you trouble again?”
“No, he’s actually turned out to be a hero of sorts back in D.C. Admiral Madison likes him.” Steve shifted and pointed south, toward where Hawk and Amber had been heading earlier. His expression sobered. “We’re here on a side mission for ourselves and Harden. Cam and Patty have been missing for a few months now, and after looking through all the possible avenues, we’ve concluded that they or their bodies were dumped out of the planes.”
Hawk frowned. “Cam? It’s that mouthy dude in your task force, right?” Steve and Marlena nodded. “Why would he and his girl be dumped out of a plane in Macedonia?”
“Long story. They were tracing hidden illegal air shipments and weapon dropoffs by certain elements in the CIA that were supposed to be relief aid. There were multiple shipments going out when they disappeared, so the difficult part was trying to pinpoint which was legit. Harden and I traced one of the moles who disappeared and managed to find her background connecting to the old German system and the KLA. She was the connecting piece to all the moles, giving orders on what went where. Some sort of double-agent handler.” Steve looked at his surroundings. “Hard to believe old Greta would be walking around in this place, running weapons. Anyway, Lena and I are only concerned about Cam and Patty, so that’s why we’re doing this on our own. Needle in a haystack, but we’re close.”
There was one thing that caught Hawk’s attention. “Greta?” he mouthed quietly.
Amber turned to him. “She has to be the same Greta.”
“What, you’ve seen her? Where?”
“About this tall, brown hair, stylish. She’s supposedly a relative of Dilaver’s,” Hawk said.
Steve frowned. “Don’t think we’re talking about the same person. The Greta I’m talking about was Harden’s secretary, and had been working as one for over a decade. And she had white hair. Kind of old-ladyish in the way she talked and walked.”
“Darling, appearances can be deceptive,” Marlena chipped in, canting an eyebrow.
“I saw her in and out of that office for a year and never thought of her as more than a secretary,” Steve said.
“And it’s positive that she’s a double agent?” Hawk asked.
“A handler,” Steve corrected.
“What’s the difference?” Amber asked.
“A double agent is an asset. A handler makes sure an asset remains one,” Marlena explained.
“Thank God I’m in the contracting business, then,” Amber said with a wry expression.
“Oh, me, too,” Marlena said. “What do you do?”
“I collect info and sell it for money,” Amber replied sweetly. “And you?”
Marlena cocked her head. “I cancel people. Sometimes for money.”
“And other times?”
“Other times I do it when they’re straddling something that doesn’t belong to them.” Her blue eyes were challenging.
Hawk cleared his throat. He didn’t have to be standing where Steve was to know that Amber’s eyes would have that dangerous sparkle in them that meant she was thinking of some form of revenge. He could tell Marlena was in her GEM operative mode, testing Amber, and he didn’t particularly want to have to explain about her agency and its ways to Amber right now.
“It’s a high probability that it’s the same Greta,” he said, smoothly segueing into using GEM’s love for percentages. “Dilaver’s always talking about drop shipments from D.C. that are disguised as relief aid. Then there’s an Aunt Greta who’s a handler who knows about these shipments, or at least some things in them. She seems to be waiting for someone else to show up, though, because she doesn’t know what the weapon I’m looking for looks like.”
“I bet it’s the missing CIA director from the Directorate of Administration. Remember, Lena? Harden told us the director from Administration had disappeared along with Greta,” Steve said, then turned to Hawk and explained, “Administration is a department at the Agency that distributed weaponry among its many functions.”
Hawk nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense to have a mole in that department, then, distributing weapons under the guise of relief aid. No one would check too closely if the director was also involved. I have a bunch of coordinates of each hidden cache for the KLA and there’s one around here, between Tirana and Elbasan. Amber’s very knowledgeable about this area, but the concern is we’ll get to the cache too late.”
“We know where it is,” Marlena said, affecting a yawn. “If I’d known you were after something in there, I’d have taken care of it while we were looking for Cam and Patty.”
“You know the location?” Hawk asked. He looked at Steve. “Why didn’t you contact the admiral? Or GEM?”
“Like we said, we’re officially on our honeymoon. Except for Harden, nobody knows we’re here,” Steve said, a corner of his mouth lifting. “Nobody told us you guys were after weapons caches. We didn’t even know what was in the crates. Most of them had ‘U.S. Relief Aid’ in bright blue and red on them. We planned on reporting this, but we found things that we think belonged to Cam and Patty and we’re heading off to Tirana for more clues.”
“Then they’re alive,” Hawk said.
“We don’t know,” Steve said, concern creeping into his voice. “We do know they were in one of those crates. I wish I knew for sure, Hawk. I can’t let it go when I don’t know what’d happened to them. Anyway, we’ll take you two back there. It’ll be faster.”
Hawk tapped Steve’s shoulder. “Sorry about Cam,” he said. Cam had been Steve’s closest friend when he was alone, a fish out of water, in D.C. “You guys can go ahead to Tirana. Just give Amber and me the directions. Tracking is tracking, after all.”
Marlena gave an exaggerated sigh. “Get the job done and follow us back to Tirana. Why would anyone track on foot when they can rent a Land Rover?”
Hawk grinned. He couldn’t imagine Marlena tracking up a mountain, either. “We had to cross a border without papers, for one thing. And then for some reason there weren’t big signs saying ‘Land Rover Rentals’ up in the mountain villages. Can’t figure out why.”
“Keep my cell number with you, darling. Call me whenever and I’ll arrange to pick you up one way or another.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Hawk promised, and didn’t blink when Amber bumped into his painful ribs. He’d have to teach her not to take Marlena’s baiting so easily. “Give me a few minutes to talk to my partner.”
He gave his cousin a telling stare, to which he received nothing but an amused quirk of the lips for an answer. It wasn’t lost on him how relaxed and happy his cousin appeared to be now. Apparently, keeping up with Marlena Maxwell’s lifestyle was good for him. He glanced at Amber, who was looking in the duffel bag, as if she wanted to use some weapon in there. Well, if Steve could manage a handful like Marlena, he could adjust to Amber and all her shady deals. She was doing something that he wanted to help with, anyway.
He bent down. “Land Rover?” he asked, leaving it to her to decide.
“You’re letting me decide?” Amber gave Hawk a sideways glance. Did he know how good he made her feel when he consulted her?
“You’re the guide. That’s what being a team means, sweetheart. We do everything together—like those two.”
He did know. She had to remember that he was a SEAL team commander. He would be the kind of man who liked to make sure his team, no matter how small in number, would know they were needed for the job.
Amber didn’t know what to make of the other couple. The man was very obviously related to Hawk. He had the same facial features, though he was a bit more clean-cut and stood a bit taller than Hawk. The woman reminded her a bit of Lily, with her sardonic humor and dark beauty. Amber wasn’t sure about that tidbit of information regarding her background, but from their fight, she could tell Marlena Maxwell wasn’t just a pretty face.
“You okay about this?” Hawk asked, pulling her up and taking her to one side.
Amber shook her head and spoke confidentially in his ear. “It’s too weird to think how we managed to bump into your cousin and his wife right in the middle of nowhere and they know the exact location of what we’re looking for. I mean, can you really trust them?”
“With my life,” Hawk answered, his eyes that dark gold color that always reminded her of sunlight reflecting on a bright ocean. “If they say they are down here looking for their friends, they are. Cam and Patty were their good friends. If it helps, the timeline checks out. I was in Asia when the drop shipment records were discovered and that was why we set up Dilaver. My commander wants me to map out the caches for destruction and GEM wants to make sure I get hold of one particular weapon for them. That’s this bomb.”
Amber looked over to where Marlena was talking to Steve. “GEM?” She should have known. “GEM is working with Jed now?”
“Isn’t Jed part of them?”
She looked at Hawk in surprise. “No. Jed is part of COS Command. GEM is an independent contractor agency.”
“They are working together now, Amber,” Hawk said, “and have been for some time. They were part of my mission in Asia. Jed runs part of GEM’s operations.”
“Well, the things a girl finds out in the wilds of Albania,” Amber muttered. “I don’t like GEM operatives.”
“Why? I’ve seen them at work a few times. They’re good.”
Amber leaned forward, making sure her words wouldn’t carry. “We call them witches.”
Hawk’s gaze turned quizzical. “Witches?”
“That’s info-world lingo. Some agencies get a reputation. When you want information personally extracted, hire a GEM witch. They’re programmed to seed suggestions to the subconscious.” She glanced at the couple not too far away again. “This one has probably infiltrated your cousin.”
Hawk slowly shook his head. “He works for them. Actually, now that I think about it, Jed probably has a hand in them being here. He’s a manipulative son of a bitch. What you’re talking about is NOPAIN, by the way. I know a little about it. It’s just a mental strategy technique.”
Amber snorted. “Mind control techniques, more like.” Amber studied him skeptically. “They taught you? Impossible. They only pick certain profiles.”
“Like what?”
“If you have been around them, haven’t you noticed? They’re mostly females. And orphans. I’ve been trying to get info on this agency for ages. Every operative that I’ve encountered or researched was an orphan and very carefully chosen. Info about GEM is an expensive item in some circles.” She met Hawk’s gaze levelly, then shrugged. “That’s my job. Even the CIA’s ultra-interested in GEM.”
To her surprise, he didn’t make fun about the information on the Agency or get angry at the notion that his cousin could be in trouble. He considered for a few seconds. “Will it make you mad if I tell you that too much info kills action? It’s not my area. Right now—”
Amber sniffed. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bomb, retrieve, remove, whatever. All this cool info and all you want is to save the world.” She smiled. “I’ll just grin and say ‘I told you so’ when you realize she isn’t just in Albania for some side job. She has another assignment.”
“Then that’s Steve’s problem.”
How like a man. She rolled her eyes. She would have loved to find out more about any new assignment. Information was money, and…She let it go. She realized that he wouldn’t understand how little bits of knowledge added up to make big money, thus paying for expenses incurred by her and Lily’s venture. Anyway, she was in this for him.
When she nodded, Hawk turned his attention back to his cousin. “Jeep it is. You guys aren’t afraid of a bomb, are you?”
“A bomb? Let’s go for it.”
Marlena sighed again as she fell into step with Amber. “You know about their penchant for explosions and destruction, don’t you?”
“Besides other things,” Amber replied.
“Oh, of course. They are SEALs,” Marlena agreed. “How did you and Hawk meet?”
“I own a café in Velesta.”
“Oh, I have to drop by sometime. Do you do your own dishes there? Stash adores my cooking,” Marlena said, suddenly looking mischievous again. “Don’t you, husband, dear?”
“Absolutely,” Steve said without looking back at them.
“Stash?” Amber prompted.
“Personal nickname. You have to have one with the McMillan men, darling. They are all named Steve.”
“I don’t understand,” Amber said with a frown.
Marlena tsk-tsked. “Hawk, darling, you really should tell her.” She turned back to Amber. “It’s a shock to the system to find out that not only is Stash Steve McMillan, but every damn male in that family is also Steve. Or Steven. Or, if I remember, there was one named Stephanus. Stupid family tradition.”
“You mean, Hawk’s name is…” She had never really thought about asking him.
“Steve McMillan,” Marlena sagely finished for her. “And if you have a kid with him, he’s doomed to be called Steve. Oh, quit looking at me like that, Hawk.”
Climbing into the vehicle, Amber returned Hawk’s amused gaze. A kid. She definitely hadn’t thought that far ahead. She didn’t tell Marlena that she already had a nickname for Hawk.
Hawk squeezed her hand gently. “We’ll sort it all out when this is over,” he whispered into her ear. She smiled back at him.
She had to admit that the Land Rover was a good idea. It covered the rocky terrain in no time and it felt great not to be on her feet. She was in good shape, but it had been a while since she had done such strenuous exercise. Besides—she glanced furtively at Hawk—she was glad Hawk was resting, too. She didn’t care that he hadn’t said one word about his injuries; she knew they had to hurt him, especially when tackling the steeper paths.
Feeling her eyes on him, he turned. The sunlight reflected the deep brown shades in his hair. His eyes had that golden glow that always fascinated her, and they had that heated expression that never failed to make her insides clench in anticipation. She kept her hands in her lap even though what she really wanted to do was reach out and touch that scruffy handsome face, pull him by the collar, and kiss those lips.
Her eyes moved to his mouth. Masculine. Sensuous. She blinked and looked back up. He was watching her silently, but she knew he was reading her mind. His eyes lazily roved down her face and to the V opening of her shirt. A small quirk lifted the corners of those lips. Then his eyes went lower and she unconsciously squeezed her thighs tightly together. He was driving her crazy by just looking at her. It just wasn’t fair what the man could do.
She was about to do the same thing, let her eyes travel where her mind was leading, to see whether she could get a reaction, when the sound of vehicles from behind them caught her attention. Hawk and she turned around at the same time.
“Two vehicles behind us, Kisser,” Hawk said.
“We’re going to turn into that small road. If they follow us, start shooting,” Steve said.
Marlena had already turned around, weapon ready. Amber caught the Uzi Hawk tossed and positioned herself against the back seat.
“Not much protection this way,” Amber said.
“I have some grenades to do the job,” Marlena said.
“That definitely ups our protection,” Hawk said quietly.
The Rover turned. So did the other two vehicles. Sunlight glanced off the weapons pointed at them.
Marlena didn’t wait. She tossed the first grenade just as Steve made another sharp veer into the side road. Steve pushed Amber’s head down as he also hunkered down. The loud explosion hurt her ears and she felt things spraying over them and into the vehicle. There were shouts and screams.
Something fell on top of the Rover, blanketing them. Amber blinked, trying to focus even as Steve braked hard. The material was heavy, ropelike. She heard Steve cursing as the vehicle ground into whatever it was and smelled tires burning as they tangled with the rope.
“That was a fucking decoy!”
Hawk pushed up with the muzzle of his weapon. She did the same. The gauze broke easily, but the ropes binding it weighed a ton. Something sharp hit her in the back and she cried out.
“Amber?” She heard Hawk yell.
“Stash! Don’t come over here!” She heard Marlena call urgently. “I’ve been—”
The world turned woozy and the voices slowed down like a recorder in need of a fresh battery. Amber felt as if she were being choked. She needed air. She reached out and felt Hawk slumped down against the back seat, struggling, too. Drugged. Whatever had hit her had gotten the others, too, and they must all be feeling disoriented like her.
They needed air. She pushed out of the cut material, the thick rope bindings wide enough for her to squeeze through. Sunlight flashed blindingly as her focus blurred and cleared and blurred again. A figure stood not too far away.
Amber frowned. “Lily?” she asked, her voice sounding hoarse and strange. The last thing she saw was Lily walking toward her, a grim look on her face.