Personal Target: An Elite Ops Novel (31 page)

Nick shrugged. “Anonymous tip, perhaps?”

This time Bryan was the one to narrow his eyes. “How’d you manage that?” he asked.

“After I got away from Ernesto’s shoot-out at the oasis, I called the U.S. Embassy in Algiers and told them Gavin Bartholomew was travelling with a shipment of women being smuggled out of Constantine. I wasn’t sure I was going to catch up with you in time, and I figured the only way to get help with some kind of military involvement was to dangle AEGIS in front of them. Leland had warned me off calling any of my contacts in the U.S. Embassy here. I assumed that meant they already knew Gavin was wanted in a DEA investigation. Given how our rep has recently gone to hell, I didn’t figure one more ding would matter.”

“So that’s why you stayed in the warehouse and came after me, instead of going after the other women?” Jenny asked.

Nick frowned. “No, that’s not the reason I came after you.”
I couldn’t leave you.
But he wouldn’t say that here in front of Bryan.

“I didn’t think using Gavin’s name could hurt his reputation any more than it already has been. And in this case, even Gavin would have said it was worth the price.”

“That was a good plan,” said Bryan, reluctant praise in his voice.

“Do you believe Gavin was set up?” asked Nick, keeping his own tone carefully neutral.

A pained expression crossed Hollywood’s face. “I want to. What do you think?”

Nick shrugged. “I think we can believe whatever we want. It’s what we can prove that will matter.”

As much as he might wish to, Nick wouldn’t swear undying loyalty to Gavin until he could talk to the man in person. Someone else’s life depended on his being right, and Nick wouldn’t risk Jenny for his boss.

“Did you see Sassy on the truck?” Jenny asked.

Bryan stared at her, the shock slowly spreading over his face. “Sassy Smith? She was with you . . . on the truck?” His low voice cracked, and Nick watched as the man visibly freaked, then pulled himself back together, all in less than seven seconds.

Jenny nodded and explained how they’d met Sassy. “Juan Santos’s men put her on the other truck just before it left the warehouse outside Constantine. I have no idea what happened after that.”

“She wasn’t with the group of women I saw at the military roadblock. I watched them take everyone off that truck.” Bryan gazed at the people carrying brightly wrapped packages down the dusty street in front of the café. “I had no idea,” he mumbled. “I was so sure she was still in Niamey.”

“Do you suppose she could have gotten out of the truck before the roadblock stopped them?” Jenny asked.

Bryan shook his head and shrugged, but Nick knew Hollywood wasn’t saying what he was really thinking.

Could something have happened to Sassy along the way to the roadblock? Did one of those idiots driving the truck pull her out of the back and take her for a “test drive”? Had something gone horribly wrong? Was she lying in a ditch somewhere outside of Constantine?

Instead Bryan said, “I didn’t get close enough to talk to any of the women. They were all in the custody of the Algerians.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Jenny.

“Keep looking.” Bryan studied her concerned face. “Don’t worry, I’ll find her. The woman’s a reporter, and she’s like a cat. Always lands on her feet.” He smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine look of happiness.

“Who is she?” asked Nick.

Bryan stared down at the table a moment before answering. “A freelance reporter.”

“Who is she to you?” asked Nick, remembering being asked a similar question less than a week ago. For a moment he didn’t think Hollywood was going to answer.

“Sassy is the younger sister of Trey Smith.”

Of course.
Nick had known Sassy’s name sounded familiar when they met on the truck, but he’d gotten stuck on the
Smith
part and dismissed the idea that he’d heard it before.

“Who’s Trey Smith?” asked Jenny, reaching for Nick’s hand.

“Elizabeth Yarborough’s boyfriend,” answered Nick.

“The Peace Corps girl who disappeared earlier this year?” asked Jenny. It wasn’t surprising that she knew who Elizabeth Yarborough was. The young woman’s disappearance had filled the world’s airwaves, front pages, and social media output for weeks last summer. Everyone with access to a television, computer, or radio had heard about Elizabeth’s disappearance, suspected murder, and the subsequent arrest of her boyfriend in Mexico.

“Trey Smith is the boyfriend who’s in jail in Mexico, right?” said Jenny.

“The very one,” said Bryan glumly. “I’ve known Trey for years. We grew up in the same neighborhood.”

“So that’s why you’ve been all over hell’s half acre looking for Elizabeth Yarborough.” Nick wondered if Hollywood had ever told any of the operatives at AEGIS his real connection to the Yarborough case. He’d assumed Bryan had a connection to the woman, not the boyfriend.
Did Gavin even know the truth?

Trust no one, absolutely no one.

Nick’s discomfort grew as he thought of Tomas’s ominous advice, combined with the relative ease with which people seemed to be able to track him and Jenny anywhere right now. The waiter brought their coffee, and Jenny talked with the man about dessert and another coffee cup for Bryan.

“Why did you tell Sassy Smith Jenny’s name?” Nick needed to know if he could believe anything Hollywood told him.

“Sassy’s been helping me with the Yarborough case. To pay for the travel, she has to be able to write stories she can sell to the Associated Press. She was working on the human trafficking angle when she heard about the contract on Jennifer from one of her sources. She was trying to confirm who the target was, but she didn’t know Jennifer’s name. I made her promise not to use any of it in a story until Jennifer was home safe.” Bryan never broke eye contact with Nick during the explanation.

Finally, it occurred to him how Hollywood had found them.

“The GPS in Jenny’s shorts, right?”

Bryan leaned forward so she couldn’t hear them and rolled his eyes. “Yes, you idiot. I talked to Leland before I got here. He can’t get in touch with you, by the way. He’s going nuts. What did you think, I was dirty?”

“Right now, I’m thinking everyone is dirty until proven otherwise.”

“Then why trust me?” asked Bryan.

“Because you’ve proven otherwise.”

Something changed in Bryan’s face when Nick said that. He was reminded again that Hollywood was experienced beyond his years with those old man’s eyes that had seen so very much.

Nick caught Bryan up to what had happened with Tomas Rivera, ending with their plan to get out of the country as soon as possible. The waiter returned with an extra coffee cup.

“No thanks, I’m headed out,” Bryan said, standing to leave. “I just wanted to check in with you two.”

“You’re going after Sassy, aren’t you?” she asked.

He nodded and pulled Jenny to her feet to give her a hug. Nick suppressed the urge to tell Hollywood to get his own woman. Bryan was working on that, whether he realized it himself or not.

“Do you know where you’ll start looking?” asked Nick, rising from his chair as well.

“Not yet. I’ll figure it out.”

“Call if you need help.”

Bryan took in Nick’s battered appearance as the two men shook hands. “I wouldn’t be that cruel. You need a vacation in a bad way. Besides, it’s Christmas.”

Jenny gave Bryan a final hug. “Thank you, for everything,” she said. “I know you’ll find her.”

He kissed her on the cheek and walked away, melting into the crowd like Rivera had, only in the opposite direction.

Jenny sat back down, staring into the street. “What do we do now?”

“That’s a question you’ve asked a lot lately.” Nick felt a flutter of nerves as he leaned back in his seat and watched the people in the street hurrying by. Every time he’d tried talking with her about this, they’d been interrupted.

“You really want to know? Because I have some ideas.” He waggled his eyebrows.

She grinned. “Absolutely, I want to know. That sounds kind of naughty.”

The waiter chose that moment to set a regional dessert between them and left. Nick felt his jaw tense at the intrusion.

“Well?” Jenny gave him a saucy smile and picked up her fork to dig in.

He took a shallow sip of air. It was time. He’d promised himself on that bridge that if he got the chance, he’d do something with it.

“Sitting here with you is where I’ve always wanted to be.” He leaned forward and carefully took her hand. “I don’t ever want to let you out of my sight.”

“Is this like that stalker thing we talked about earlier?” She wrinkled her brow, but her tone was sunny and teasing.

“No.” Without warning, he felt the hot pricking sensation of tears at the corners of his eyes. He was exposed and raw with the kind of emotion that hadn’t been at the surface for him in longer than he could remember. But at the same time, he felt . . . peace. “I think we should get married.”

“What?!” Her green eyes rounded in stunned surprise, and she stared at him open-mouthed a moment before she spoke. “My God. You’re serious. You want to marry me?”

A burst of panic flared in his chest, but he reached for her other hand instead of stopping. “Okay, I didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that. But every time we’ve been on the verge of talking about this, we’ve been interrupted.”

She stared at him with color deepening in her cheeks by the second. “You now have my undivided attention, I assure you.”

Her eyes never left his as he took a breath and started talking. “I love you, Jenny. I’ve loved you for ten years, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want you to be my family, and I want to be yours. I know we’ve got things to work through, but I’m willing to work hard. Start over with me.”

Her eyes filled as he spoke. “You do realize I just got a divorce?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know. But that’s because you didn’t marry the right guy.”

She leaned forward against the table, shaking her head in disbelief. “And you’re sure that you’re the right guy?”

He smiled. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” And he was . . . absolutely positive. “I can make you happy. I know it. Let me.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she murmured.

“Sure you do.” He gently pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her knuckles. “Say yes.”

Acknowledgments

S
O MANY PEOPLE
have helped and inspired me in writing this story.

Thank you to my agent, Helen Breitwieser of Cornerstone Literary, for her continued belief in me and my work.

Thank you to my editor, Erika Tsang, who helped make Nick’s story its very best and pushed me to write my very best as well. And to all the folks at HarperCollins who continue to make this a lovely experience—Chelsey Emmelhainz, Heidi Richter, Pam Spengler-Jaffee, and the absolutely amazing cover artists who work hard on my behalf.

Thank you to my friend Dr. Alisa Winkler, for taking me on an extended tour of SMU’s Paleontology department and for sharing her fascinating experiences in the field with me.

Thank you to my friend Doug, for sharing his unique perspective on Africa and what it is like to live there.

Thank you to my awesome beta reader and friend, Joyce Ann McLaughlin, for always being enthusiastic about my work.

Thanks especially to the “Bulletproof Babes” for their help and encouragement in promoting my stories and to my “Writer Foxes”—Addison Fox, Lorraine Heath, Tracy Garrett, Jane Graves, Jo Davis, Suzanne Ferrell, Sandy Blair, Julie Benson, and Allie Burton. These ladies keep me sane and smiling.

Thank you to my parents, Gran and Te Daddy, for their continued excitement about my writing and for telling me when I was younger that I could do anything I set my mind to.

Thank you to my daughter, Michelle, for always being excited to read what I’ve written and for picking really good wine. And thank you to my son, Russ, for loving dinosaurs when he was younger and for understanding now that he still can’t knock on my office door when it’s closed, unless there is smoke or blood involved.

And finally, to my husband, Tom. Thank you for being the real inspiration for all my heroes. None of this could happen without your support or your mad laundry skills. You make all the difference in my world.

June 2014

Can’t get enough of Kay Thomas’s Elite Ops team?

Keep reading for an excerpt from Book One,

HARD TARGET

Available now from Avon Books.

An Excerpt from

HARD TARGET

“C
OULD YOU HAND
me my top, please?”

Leland bent down to retrieve Anna’s shirt and turned away, staring at the floor in front of him to give her privacy. What the hell was he doing? At least he’d given the room a cursory inspection to rule out cameras or bugs before he’d practically screwed her against the bedroom wall.

What he’d really wanted to tell her, before they’d gotten sidetracked with the birth control issue, was the same thing he’d wanted to tell her last night. She didn’t have to do him to get Zach back. Whether or not they had sex had no bearing on whether he’d help find her son.

Not that he didn’t want her. He did. So much so that his teeth ached.

He hadn’t known her long, but what he knew fascinated him. To have dealt with everything she had in the past year and to still be so strong. That inner strength captivated him.

It was important she not think he expected sex in exchange for his help. Sex wasn’t some kind of payoff. He needed to clarify that right away.

Besides, neither of them was going to be able to sleep now. He sighed, zipped his cargo shorts, and pulled on his T-shirt and shoulder holster with the Ruger. He shoved the larger Glock into his backpack. This was going to be a long evening.

The night breeze had shifted the shabby curtain to the side, leaving an unobscured view into the room. He turned to face her, wondering if anyone on the street had just gotten an eyeful.