Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help the first time.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. You were detained, as you recall, and no one reported you missing. Compared to what you went through…”
“Let’s not compare. What’s the point of that?”
He was right. There was none.
“And you and Darius were the ones who got me out of there. No one else was coming,” Dante said, his voice going out on him. “That was a long time ago, but I still remember it so clearly.”
I did too, but I wasn’t about to go back down that road. He’d lost so much weight, and there wasn’t a patch of skin left unmarked. The medic, when we made it to the nearest camp, assured us he wouldn’t live. But I was a major then, and I had enough clout to have him flown to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. The doctors there were far more optimistic, probably since it wasn’t a field hospital.
Dante said, “Let’s not keep a running total of who saved whom.”
“No,” I agreed.
We were quiet for a bit.
“You should go home,” I told him. “You’re not doing anything here but watching me sleep and take my medicine.”
“Well, Dr. Lens did say that the injuries to your legs, stomach, and chest were quite severe, possibly fatal were it not for medical intervention.”
I grunted.
“I heard her tell you that she worked for an NGO while in Syria, so she knows the signs of torture when she sees them.”
The woman was astute, which was why I told her the truth. She agreed to keep all my secrets. She was one of my new favorite people.
“Are the headaches better?”
At first, I had tried to ignore the throbbing in my head, but the pain had increased tenfold, climbing steadily toward excruciating. This was accompanied by vertigo that made it impossible to walk.
Fortunately, that didn’t last. Dr. Lens ran more tests, gave me a CT scan, then an MRI, and determined that between rest and pills, I would recover. This time. But much like NFL quarterbacks who had to retire early from one too many hits to the head, I had to now be careful with mine. My days of being in the field were over. I could oversee from far away, like Darius, but trading punches in the street or barroom brawling was done.
“I haven’t had one in days,” I told him. “Dr. Lens says the headaches should be gone in a couple of months.”
“That’s great news.”
“Yes, it is. So really, you can go home.”
He made a noise.
“It’s been three weeks, quickly going on four,” I reminded him. “I’m safe, no one’s coming, and once I’m cleared, I’m heading out too.”
“Yep,” he agreed with a yawn.
“Your family is missing you.”
“Leave my family out of it.”
“You miss your husband. I know you do. Go home.”
He glanced sideways at me. “We talked. I sent pictures of you. He told me to wait one more week. I plan to listen to him.”
Had he said what I— “You sent him pictures of me?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“You don’t think that’s weird?”
“No. Why?” he answered with a slight grin that told me he was repeating the why on purpose.
I shook my head.
When his phone rang with a FaceTime call, he lifted it so we could both see Darius’s face.
“I can get there so you can go home,” Darius told him.
“I run a B and B,” Dante reminded him. “You run a secret international operation that helps keep the world safe. Who do you think needs to be at work more?”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I chimed in.
Dante scowled at me.
“Pardon me?” Darius was indignant on the other side of the world. He’d been called to Sudan on urgent business. “Are you still drugged up?”
“No, I’m not drug—”
“I thought you said he wasn’t all drugged up anymore,” Darius half yelled at Dante.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I groaned.
“He thinks he’s gonna be okay here with Owen, Arden, and Jing. He thinks that’s fine,” Dante told our friend, rolling his eyes. “After everything. He thinks he knows best.”
“If Dante goes, you get me or…I can send Lee,” Darius informed me with his lion grin, the one that was a little scary. “Your choice.”
“No, God.” I couldn’t take Lee or his fashion or his flash. “Please no.”
“Then leave Dante alone.”
I kept my mouth shut.
Long moments passed without anyone saying anything. Finally, I asked Darius, “Did you call with news?”
“Oh, yes, we got a hit on the crypto.”
“The money’s moved?”
“It is.”
“Can you track it back to its point of origin?”
“We can. We’re almost there. We know it’s in Hong Kong, which, of course, makes sense with this circling back to Ronan.”
It did.
“My people think I’ll be able to send you longitude and latitude as soon as tomorrow.”
Which was why Dante couldn’t leave yet. “So what now?”
“Cold-blooded murder is a filthy business,” Darius replied. “But you tell me what you want. I can send you a black-ops team if scorched earth is how you want to handle this.”