Rekindled (Titanium Security Series) (8 page)

The fingers resting on his chest curled into his shirt. Hope rose so swift and fast it nearly choked him. “I was lost without you for so long,” she whispered, the past tense twisting that knife embedded in his chest harder. “You broke my
heart
.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, tried to tell her everything he felt for her with his embrace. Holding her close, he released her hand to slide his into her hair and cradled the back of her head. “I know.” He kissed her temple, the edge of her hairline, then trailed his lips to her cheek. She made a sound of protest and buried her face harder into his throat. But he could tell she was affected by his nearness and what he was doing to her. And he wasn’t above using her body’s response to him if it helped weaken her defenses. This was too important—he’d use any means necessary to get past her shields.

He nuzzled the side of her neck, lingered at that sensitive place where it curved into her shoulder. The exact spot that had always melted her before. He’d discovered it the first night he’d kissed her, two days after meeting her at that dinner. At her hitching gasp he paused, his lips grazing her soft skin, breath caressing her. A sudden burst of erotic awareness arced between them. He could feel it pulsing in the air, a pool of accelerant waiting for a source of ignition. A single spark that would send them both up in flames. She trembled, tensed in his arms.

Let me back in, baby. Let me back in just a little
.

He raised his head to stare down at her, urging her face up to his with the hand in her hair. She searched his eyes and he saw the battle raging inside her. Confusion, wariness,
need
.

The need he could satisfy, right here and now. Lowering his gaze to her mouth, he slid his hand from her hair to sweep the pad of his thumb across her plump lower lip. Slowly. Gently. Watching her eyes all the while. Something in them heated, ignited. Alex removed his thumb and leaned in close, until only a breath separated their lips. Everything in him demanded he take her mouth, stamp his claim on her and remind her of what they could have together. Instinct held him back. She was too skittish, too mistrustful of him now. He had to take this slow, as much as it tortured him.

He closed his eyes, leaned in that last inch and touched his mouth to hers.

She jolted, drove her palms into his chest. “I can’t,” she whispered, the words breathless and full of pain as she turned her face away. “I can’t.”

Alex pulled in a deep breath and stayed there, her lips so close to his own. He opened his mouth to argue but froze when his cell phone buzzed in his front pocket.

Grace’s fingers tightened on him, something close to regret flashing in her pale eyes as she met his gaze. The phone buzzed again, sounding angry, insistent. “You gonna answer that?” she whispered.

The only reason anyone would call him at this hour was for an emergency. Yet Alex held her stare for another few seconds while the phone buzzed, letting her know how tempted he was to ignore it for her, even though it might possibly be the most important call of his career.

Reluctantly he eased back, noting the way her shoulders sagged in relief as he moved out of her space and pulled the phone from his pocket. “Rycroft,” he answered, still staring at Grace.

“I think we’ve got a lead,” Evers said without preamble.

“What is it?”

“Possible sighting in Lahore. The intel’s fresh, only five minutes old, and it’s from a trusted source we’ve been paying off for years.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He hung up, still focused on Grace. “I have to go.”

She nodded, didn’t ask why or what he’d found out. He was simultaneously relieved and irritated by that.

His jaw clenched. “Give me your number.” When she hesitated, he pressed. “You’re only in town for how much longer, until the weekend?”

She swallowed, then admitted quietly, “I fly out Sunday morning.”

Three days. Just three days until she left, and he was in the middle of a critical manhunt. “This isn’t over, Grace, and you know it. Give me your number. I’ll call when I can.”

Again a hesitation, and he could see her weighing the decision as he waited. Finally she relented with a sigh and held her hand out for his phone. He gave it to her, waited while she input her number and handed it back. He checked the number, looked back up at her. “Is this your real number?”

At his teasing tone she huffed out a laugh, the action softening her features. She knew perfectly well he could get her number on his own if he needed to. But that crack in her veneer made him ache at the reminder of how easy things used to be between them. “Yes, it’s real.”

He slipped it back into his pocket. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I can. I need to see you again.” Before she could argue he reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, the shiny auburn strands glinting in the lamplight. “Take care of yourself.”

She nodded. “You too.”

“Oh, and there’s something else I want to say.”

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t been with anyone since you.”

She blinked at him as the full meaning of that sank in, her face going blank with shock. Four years since he’d had a lover. Though he’d had plenty of opportunity and interest from the opposite sex, no one could ever compare to Grace. No one else had interested him, no one else would do. She was it for him, and until he knew there was no chance with her, he couldn’t move on.

Though it felt like he was being torn in half, Alex forced himself to walk out the door. The second he was in the hallway he heard the sound of the dead bolt sliding into place. As he headed for the elevator, he sent up a silent prayer that she hadn’t just locked him out of her life for good.

“Do you need something for the pain now?”

“No.” Malik stayed where he was on the sofa and stared warily across the room at the man who’d appeared at his hospital bedside and whisked him out of the facility. “What else has happened that I don’t know about?”

The thirtyish man stepped to the window of the humble house they’d stopped at, pulled back the blinds to peek out into the darkness. “We don’t know who we can trust from the old network.”

Malik arched a brow, irritated that he was forced to rely on this stranger and the others while not knowing exactly what was happening. The lack of control made him extremely uncomfortable. And angry. “Expecting someone?”

He turned from the window to look back at him. “Shortly, yes.”

“Who?”

“A friend you’ll recognize.” He crossed back to the other side of the room and sat on one of the armchairs.

Malik settled back into the cushions and took stock. The armed men outside guarding them were from the most elite branch of the Pakistani police force, all of them military trained. They’d made the nearly four hour drive here to the outskirts of Lahore with no one following them on the road, but there could be drones or satellites tracking them at this very moment. They’d given him clothing, food and water, and hustled him into this safe house. He’d ordered the place swept for bugs and all the blinds and curtains remained closed. He was as safe as he was going to get, for the moment at least.

“Once I get the call, we can relax a bit more,” the man said as he drummed his fingers on the wooden arms of the chair. “If I don’t hear from him in the next half hour though…”

They’d move Malik immediately to a different city. Malik stared at him from across the room. So far he’d done everything in his power to ensure the rescue went off without a problem. Malik still didn’t trust him. Until he knew who his true allies were now, every one of these men was a possible suspect to him.

The man’s phone shrilled with an incoming call. He answered, smiled when he looked over at Malik. “He’s here,” he said as he hung up.

Moments later Malik heard the sound of an engine close to the house. Doors slammed shut, and the guards outside led someone into the hallway. Malik tensed slightly as he waited to see this so-called “friend”. The door swung open. Bashir’s personal lawyer stood in the opening.

“Malik,” he said with a smile as he rushed over to shake his hand. “It’s so good to see you.”

It wasn’t often Malik was surprised, but he definitely was. “You? You orchestrated all this?”

He nodded. “It took some doing, but Bashir had this all laid out prior to your capture.”

Malik hid a smile. Bashir had always been more cautious than him, always making contingency plans just in case. This one had paid off in a huge way. “And he managed to arrange this from prison?”

The lawyer pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. “He told me where to find the information I’d need. Once I found that, it was only a matter of contacting the names on the list and coordinating everything.”

Incredible. Malik shook his head. “Well then you have my thanks. How is he?”

A shrug. “He’s doing the best he can. No torture that I’m aware of, and he’s being fed and well cared for so far. Though I think they’ll be doubling his security now that you’re out.”

No doubt. And Malik couldn’t leave his closest friend—his only friend, really—to languish behind bars when he’d shown such loyalty. “Once things are in place, I’ll make sure to free him.”

The lawyer nodded, seeming pleased by Malik’s response. “You still have many trustworthy sources in the police force and some in the military. One or two politicians as well.” He paused. “I also have information about who sided with the Americans.”

“General Sharif,” Malik said in disgust, the name leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

“Yes. I bet he’s feeling nervous with you on the outside again.”

Malik nodded. The traitorous bastard should be nervous. He would pay. “I have arrangements of my own to make. I’ll need an encrypted phone—” The lawyer reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled a cell phone out for him. Malik took it. Once he was alone he’d examine it more closely to ensure there were no tracking devices. Even if he used it, he’d be careful to keep the conversation short and use code words in case anyone was monitoring the call. “What of my bodyguards?”

“Both died in the tunnel the day you were captured.”

They’d been two of the handful of men Malik had allowed close to him. No matter. His increased mistrust of his so-called “allies” would only make him harder to target in the future. “Any word on the situation in Islamabad?”

“Everyone is looking for you, of course. If you plan to stage the coup now, you’ll have to set it up quickly and act using the police and whatever military forces you can rely on.”

Malik nodded, already mapping out the steps he’d need to take. “There are a few things I have to take care of first.” Things even more important than seizing the reins of power.

The man’s gaze sharpened. “I also have information on Rycroft.”

At the mention of that name, Malik’s muscles tightened. “What about him?”

“I received a report from the police earlier today that I thought may interest you.” He dug in his briefcase and pulled out some papers, handed them to him.

Malik skimmed the report. A minor traffic accident in Islamabad, involving an American, Grace Fallon. She worked for the UN. He flipped the page, froze when he saw the image there.

The picture was taken from behind her. A Caucasian woman with chin length auburn hair stood with her back to the camera. And holding that woman was none other than Alex Rycroft. His arms were locked around her in an embrace that no one who saw it could misinterpret as anything other than possessive and protective.

Malik glanced up at the lawyer and smiled as excitement rushed through his blood. He finally had the weakness he needed to exploit. “Find out everything you can about her, what she means to him and where she’s staying.” He couldn’t go after Rycroft directly without serious risk of being captured or killed. But he could bait a trap with the right lure and make Rycroft come to him.

Malik was getting ahead of himself though. Before he could enjoy the pleasure of crushing his most hated adversary, he had another sentence to deliver.

****

Alex drained the cold dregs of his fourth cup of coffee and set his mug on the conference table where the team was assembled. “I want security tightened on all of us. Hassani was unpredictable before, but now that he’s desperate and on the run, he’s a total wild card.” And since Alex knew him better than anyone else in the room and still couldn’t guess what would happen next, that should speak volumes to the other team members.

There was no evidence yet that the lead about Hassani being in Lahore was true. Two teams were converging on the city now to check it out. “Any questions before I dismiss you all?” They’d all been without sleep for two days. There was nothing more they could do for the time being so they might as well grab some much needed rest. He looked around the table at Evers, Hunter, Gage and several other FBI and NSA personnel.

When everyone shook their heads, he nodded. “Okay, be back here ready to go at eleven hundred. Keep your phones on and with you at all times in case something changes.”

He went to the truck with Hunter and Gage. Gage drove them back to the hotel as the eastern sky began to lighten with the coming dawn. Up in his room, he crawled between the sheets and closed his aching eyes. Within minutes he was fast asleep. He woke what felt like only moments later when his phone buzzed against his hip. Sighing, he pulled it out of his pocket and squinted at the display. According to his phone he’d been asleep for nearly an hour, but he desperately needed more. The name on the call display compelled him to answer, however. “Zahra? Everything okay?”

“Sorry, I know it’s early. Are you still working?”

He sat up, rubbed at his eyes with his free hand. “No, it’s fine. What’s up?”

“It’s…Sean. He’s not doing so well.” Her voice hitched on the last word.

Aw, hell. Alex had been bracing for this. He just hadn’t expected it so soon. “Want me to come in?”

“Would you? I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now but I don’t know what else to do and didn’t know who to call.”