Dead Reckoning (38 page)

“Do
you
like it? I mean, all those years as a kid, is this what you were training me for?” Hard to breathe. “To guide me into this covert world of yours?”

“No.” His words bore the surprise and hurt she clearly read on his face. “What I taught you was to make sure you never got snatched again.” He shook his head. “I don’t like this any more than you, but it's done, decided. You’re playing.”

Heat infused her cheeks, fueling her anger. “No. I’m not.”

“For once in your life, look beyond your own interests.” Though the words were quiet, they packed a punch. His chest rose and fell quickly as he brought himself back under control. “Set aside that hatred you have pinned on me, and for once— just once—trust me. There's more to this world than you and me. Millions of lives are at stake.”

How could he do this? Stand there and act like they’d never missed a beat in their relationship. It had been fifteen years! Shiloh pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead and turned away. Didn’t he care? Did he miss her? No, he didn’t give a rat's nest about how she felt or what she’d gone through. He wanted to put their past behind them so she’d bend to his will and become what she despised.

“You’re unbelievable. All these years you haven’t spoken to me, and now you’re standing there ordering me …” Her breathing deepened. “Ordering me to trust you?” The words cracked. Dust kicked up as she paced in front of his desk. “I’m not doing this. I’m not following your orders. I don’t care—”

“I’m not ordering you, Shi.” His soulful eyes stared. “I can’t believe how much you look like your mom.”

The words served as a line drive to her heart. “Don’t. Don’t bring her into this. I am not going to become like you. I
hate
you!” Tears threatened. She gulped back the swell of outrage. “All my life, you moved me around, ripping me from
friends and schools. Then when you’re off playing hero, I’m in an overturned car watching Mom bleed to death.”

“Shiloh—”

“No!” Her pulse pounded through her skull. “I won’t do that to those I love. I won’t become a creature without a heart or conscience.”

He drew up, pain etched into the lines of his weathered face. “I did everything I could—”

“All you did was screw up my life!” Tears flowed harder, defying her every attempt to stop them. “You ruined me. You’re the reason I have seizures. I—” She covered her mouth as a sob wracked her body.

Quiet steps crunched on the sandy floor as he drew closer. “I owe you a thousand apologies. I’ll never forgive myself for the months you spent captive, the experiments that left you with seizures. Killing the man who did that to you didn’t erase the damage—or my fury.”

He balled his fists and bowed his head. “It's your choice, your right, to cling to that hatred. I beg your forgiveness for all the ways I’ve failed you.” He sighed. “But in the end, it doesn’t alter the fact that we’re in this together.”

A piece of her glacier-like hatred broke off and drifted away, unnerving her. He was tricking her, using this time just to get what he wanted—her cooperation.

Shiloh shook her head. “No.” She couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Too easy. She wanted Jude Blake to hurt, to feel the stabbing pain of betrayal. “I won’t forgive you. I’ll never forgive you.”

With slumped shoulders, he returned to the table. He skimmed the pages in front of him. In that fleeting moment she saw something in her father she’d never seen before. Brokenness. Emptiness. A man who’d lost the woman he loved. Lost his daughter.

The thoughts surprised her. “Do you miss mom?” she whispered.

His blue-greys came to hers, streaked with heartache. “With every breath.” He laughed, his chin puckering as if he fought off tears. “You look so much like her. That fire in your eyes … that's Jirina.”

Jirina.
It’d been so long since she’d heard her mother's name. She’d been a spy too. Maybe, just this once, Shiloh could honor her mother by doing something brave and heroic, the way her mom had done for many years. After all, her father said millions of lives were at stake, right? She couldn’t exactly walk away from that if she had the power to make a difference. But this time only. Never again. Bolstered by the thoughts, she composed herself.

“I won’t do this for you,” she mumbled. “But for mom.” Lip trembling, she sucked in a breath and batted the hair from her face. “What do I need to do?”

He didn’t miss a beat. “Intel shows Sajjadi has half the codes already. We’ve got a plan, and I’ll be in place—”

“So, you’ll back me up.”

“Every step of the way.”

Shiloh nodded, amazed that his words comforted her, especially since she’d never trusted him before. “Go on.”

He looked at her. “Nobody can know about this.”

“You don’t trust Mahmud.”

“Not for a minute.” His gaze was steady and focused. “But I mean
nobody
, Shiloh. Not even Reece.”

Her chest spasmed. How did he know about Reece? “We aren’t on speaking terms.”

“You’ll see him again.” A smile marked with pain and sympathy pinched the corners of his eyes. “It's hard to be angry with someone you love when you’ll never see them again.”

Green Beret Camp
Northern India

Amid the dark shroud of night a shadowy figure emerged from the trees. “Knew you couldn’t walk away.”

Reece clapped his friend on the back as he entered the camp. “What's the latest?”

“Bad news.”

“Give it to me.”

“About two hours ago word came that Jude Blake was taken captive.”

Reece froze as the revelation bungeed through his mind, snapping back with a thousand-pound kick. How did that happen? Where did that leave Shiloh? “What's the plan?”

“Hit fast and hard.” Cole hiked up the hill toward the hub of the camp where the men knelt around the fire pit, packing gear, checking weapons, and whispering last-minute prayers. He tugged out a crinkled map and shone a flashlight on it. “Latest intel shows Sajjadi holed up in this warehouse north of the Gateway of India. Chopper will drop us at the pier. We’ll get him and get out.”

“Him? What about Shiloh?”

“There's no reason to believe she's there.”

“She was with Sajjadi's son. It's plausible—”

“Jude's our mission.”

“If Sajjadi has Jude, then he has Shiloh.” Reece ground his teeth. “I could kill Aiken. One simple task, and he couldn’t do it.”

Miller glanced toward the camp. Then turned away. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her. She may not be my girl, but I liked her.”

Reece quirked an eyebrow.

Hands raised, Miller laughed. “Hey, Aras liked her and that monkey don’t like nobody.”

“No …” Glancing around the camp, Reece tried to determine what his buddy wanted to hide. “What's up?”

Chatter rose up from the south end of the camp. To Reece's surprise, he identified Brody Aiken stepping from a hut, laughing. Every muscle in Reece went rigid. He dropped his sack.

“Reece, don’t—”

His friend's curse was lost amid the wind rustling in his ears as he stomped toward Aiken.

The Brit turned, and his eyes widened.

Reece slammed a solid right cross straight into the man's face.

Crack!

With a hard uppercut, Reece brought the guy to his knees. Blood spurted from Aiken's nose.

He whimpered and coughed. “What's wrong with you?”

“One simple task, Aiken. Keep her safe.” Reece drew back, fisted his hand—

A hard weight barreled into Reece from the side, knocking him down. His head slammed into the dirt with a resounding thud. He wrestled the opponent.

Two more heavy thumps landed on him. He recognized the odds: three to one. Outgunned. Someone grabbed his arms and pinned him to the ground. His breathing heaved. He glared past his flaring nostrils, past the knee at the base of his throat to the man looming over him.

Miller glared down at him, a knee in Reece's throat. “You in control?”

Humiliation swirled through Reece. He closed his eyes. Gave a curt nod.

“Let him up.”

The two-ton boulders lifted. Reece sat up, slowly clenching and unclenching his fist. He spit to the side, air coming in short, staccato breaths. The release of pent-up anger had felt good. Too good. Arms propped on his bent knees, he sat watching the shadows from the fire dance over his pants.

Shiny loafers appeared in front of him.

Reece grunted when he met the familiar expression of Director Ryan Nielsen. “Aiken did everything he could—”

“Don’t.” Picking himself off the ground, Reece cringed and held his side. “What are you doing up here anyway?” He eased onto a felled log next to Miller.

“I was there during Shiloh's questioning. Intel came in almost simultaneously with her escape that the hit against our people was professional.”

Reece snorted. “You people are—”

“Sajjadi's yacht is entering Mumbai Harbor,” Nielsen said.

Reece and Miller exchanged glances. Why would Sajjadi go inland? He couldn’t run if something went wrong.

“Chopper's coming,” Miller mumbled and removed himself from the tension.

“Jaxon,” Nielsen said. “I understand your anger—”

Reece jerked to his feet. When he saw Nielsen cringe, he patted the director's lapel. “You’re a good director, but you aren’t me. Just be glad I’m not going to repay you for your part in Shiloh's interrogation.”

“I didn’t lay a hand on her.”

“I know.” Reece let the sneer into his voice.

Ryan Nielsen didn’t have the guts to get his hands dirty, especially when it meant going against Jude Blake, America's top operative and regional director. The guy no doubt feared retaliation and losing said operative. And for that, Reece would be grateful—just this once—that Nielsen didn’t have a spine.

Shouldering his way past the grunt, Reece surveyed the men. In their countenance, he saw the raw determination that mirrored his own.

“Where are you going?”

Swiping the dirt from his face, he said, “I have a mission.”

“If you can’t free Jude, you know what you have to do.”

The objective was the highest possible. Such a well-connected agent simply had too much secret information:
location of assets, identities of those who kept the balance of power in check, the missions no one knew about. His capture meant every man in this camp could be wiped out. Every operative this side of the world could die.

If they couldn’t drag Jude Blake to safety, they had to neutralize him.

“The kill order applies to his daughter too. If she's there and you can’t free her, Shiloh must be killed.”

Mumbai, India

B
EATEN, BURNED, WATERBOARDED, BUT NOT BROKEN.

Shiloh jutted her jaw. “This the best you’ve got?”

Her father had said Sajjadi would find a way to make her cooperate, which she accepted would happen, but he’d also said the sicko wouldn’t torture her. Another reason not to trust her father again. Of course, she might die, but Sajjadi would be unable to finish this insanity.

Tingles from the electrocution still lingered on the tips of her fingers.
Please, God.
Was He even listening? She’d cast Him off like an empty dive tank when she left home.
Let me do this. For my mom.

A cell phone rang. The goon with the magic wand answered the call. Seconds later, he grinned. Then headed across the cavernous space toward a door. Creaking and groaning echoed off the rafters of the warehouse as he pushed open the door and stepped into darkness.

Was it really night already? The hours had blurred. She had arrived, under the not-so-gentle manhandling of Mahmud— where was that creep?

A cool breeze wafted through the open door. A familiar scent snagged her mind. Water! A sea of ebony sparkled back
at her. The docks. Had they brought her back to Mumbai? If she could get to the water—

Lifting hands weighted by shackles and chains anchored to the cement walls, she pulled forward and yanked backward. Pain darted through her shoulders. She sagged. She’d have to free herself, but these weren’t your standard movie-style cuffs. Quarter-inch thick and clamped with two bolts, the steel dug into her wrists. Permanent reminders carved into her soft flesh. She considered breaking her thumbs. Could she swim with broken hands?

Outside, a noise clapped into her awareness. Shoes. Someone was coming, and it wasn’t the goon who’d gotten perverted pleasure out of her screams. He’d walked heavily and sluggishly. This had a crisp, confident air.

Seconds later a tall, powerful form blocked her view of the water. The man hesitated, then strode forward, his steps now lazy and taunting. “I am told you have not been cooperative, Miss Blake.” He stopped in front of her, the lone overhead bulb casting eerie shadows over his face.

Who was he? Sajjadi? Surely she hadn’t drawn the viper from his den. “Sorry, but his high-voltage personality grates on me.”

Surprise danced in his dark eyes. “Humor.” He stepped closer, eyeing her as though she was a prize catch on market day. “Perhaps they have been too easy on you.”

“I’m a slow learner.”

A somber expression replaced his amusement from seconds earlier. “I will give you one chance to cooperate, Miss Blake.” Easing himself onto a metal folding chair, he crossed his legs and smiled up at her. “I need you to retrieve codes from an associate.”