Rekindled (Titanium Security Series) (9 page)

There was no way Zahra had missed the increased security he’d placed outside Dunphy’s room. She knew something big was happening, and he hated that she had another thing to worry about on top of everything else. “It’s no problem. I’ll be there within half an hour.” After he hung up he grabbed a fast, hot shower and dressed, keeping his tactical vest beneath his dress shirt so it wouldn’t draw too much notice. With Hassani on the loose once more, he couldn’t take any chances with his personal safety. He texted Hunter and Gage to tell them where he was going, then arranged for a couple of Feds to tail him and caught a cab to the hospital.

He found Zahra standing in the hallway beside the closed door to Dunphy’s room, the two men standing guard there doing their best to give her privacy. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eyes looked bruised underneath. One look at her and he could tell she’d been crying. She looked exhausted and fragile and impossibly young. When he reached her she went straight into Alex’s arms. He felt the way her shoulders shook with silent sobs she was trying to hold back, and cursed as he tightened his hold.

“That bad, huh?” he murmured against the top of her head.

She nodded, her breath hitching. “I hate that I can’t help him. I know why he’s trying to push me away and I know I swore I wouldn’t let him, but he’s so goddamn mean right now part of me wants to walk away and let him suffer all by himself.”

“I bet.” He held her until she calmed and finally stepped away, wiping at her eyes. “You’re done in, honey. Why don’t you grab something to eat downstairs, then head back to the hotel and get some sleep for awhile? I’ll hang with him for a bit. Here.” He reached into his pocket and handed her some cash to buy some food. “You’ll both feel better if you give each other some space for a while. One of the guards can take you up. Go to the hotel, go unwind for a bit. It’ll be worth it, trust me.”

She looked like she was going to refuse, but after a long moment she nodded. “Thanks. I really appreciate this—don’t know what I’d have done without you these past few years.”

“Don’t thank me for that, it’s insulting,” he said, giving her one last hug before releasing her and sending her toward the elevators with a gentle push. “Go on, now. I’ll handle the bear.”

She tossed a weary smile at him over her shoulder and walked to the elevators as he called one of the guards over and explained the situation. Once she and the man were inside the elevator, Alex turned and strode past the remaining man posted at the door. He didn’t bother knocking, just opened it and strode right into the room. The smells hit him first, stale air, some kind of chemical cleaner, and the underlying scent of dried blood.

Dunphy was lying on his back in the narrow bed, still awake, his dark stare fixed on Alex. His eyes were completely ringed with purple and black from the bruising he’d suffered in the concussion of the IED’s blast. Beneath the blankets, Alex could make out the shapes of the metal external fixators the surgeons had used to put his legs back together. Legs Dunphy couldn’t currently feel, and might never be able to use again.

“What are you doing here?” Dunphy muttered. “She call you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well you can leave now. I’m not interested in having company at the moment.”

From the hostile look in the former FORECON Marine’s eyes, Alex could see he was spoiling for a fight. Even though he understood why, Alex was tired, frustrated and pissed off enough to give him one.

Reining the urge in, he glanced over at the rolling table set beneath the windowsill. “I see the boys delivered their get well gift.” A box of Mrs. Fields brownies sat next to a card with a picture of Van Halen on the front of it, the four band members’ heads replaced by pictures of Gage, Hunter, Ellis and Dunphy. Alex knew these brownies wouldn’t be laced with laxatives like the last ones they’d given Dunphy. Poor bastard.

Dunphy grunted in response, glowering at Alex.

Alex set his hands on his hips as he faced him once more. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No.”

Alex wasn’t at all surprised by the punch of anger in that one word. He was more than ready to do the tough love routine, however. “It’s too early to give up hope. It’s still only been a few days.”

“I’m very much fucking aware of exactly how many days it’s been.”

Alex studied him for a long moment, noting the tension in the other man’s jaw, the tight set of his shoulders. Hostility and resentment burned in those dark eyes. The guy was stressed to the max, ready to split apart at the seams. “Zahra’s gone.”

Shock, and maybe a tiny bit of fear flashed across his face before anger snuffed them both out. “So?”

“So I told her she didn’t have to put up with your shit anymore, and for her to go.”

Dunphy’s mouth twisted in a bitter smile. “My
shit
, huh?”

Alex nodded. “Yep. She’s been through enough of her own with what her father did to both her and her mother. You know exactly what I’m talking about, and then there was that whole episode in the woods a few weeks back when she took a bullet in her leg. She’s suffered too much already, she shouldn’t have to put up with abuse from you too, especially when she’s done nothing but be there for you, try to help you.”

“I don’t need her fucking help,” Dunphy snapped, eyes blazing, nostrils flaring. “I can lay here doing piss all by myself day in and day out without her
help
. I don’t need to see the fucking pity in her eyes to know I’m just gonna wake up tomorrow exactly like this, and the next day, and the next—”

“You wanna have a pity party, that’s your choice. But when you turn on someone as kind and loyal as Zahra, that’s over the line.”

Dunphy let out a disbelieving laugh. “What is this, the overprotective father routine?”

“Guess so.” It was common knowledge how he felt about Zahra. He didn’t deny it, wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed by it.

“Well, don’t bother. Just leave me alone and get the hell out. All of you, just leave me the fuck
alone
!” He slammed his hands down on either side of him, making the whole bed jump.

Alex would leave, but not until he’d driven his point home and lanced the festering wound inside Dunphy before it got any worse. He stormed over, paused at the side of the bed and glared down at the other man. “What happened to you fucking sucks, and nobody denies that. You wanna take it out on someone? Take it out on me, asshole.
I’m
the one who put you in that vehicle.
I
picked the route and put you last in the convoy.”

Dunphy’s eyes were nearly wild, the muscles in his arms shaking with the rage pumping inside him. “I wish it were you lying in this fucking bed with two fucking dead legs instead of me!”

“Well it isn’t, it’s you, and it’s still not reason enough to take it out on the woman who loves you!”

The door opened and a young Pakistani nurse stuck her head in. Her eyes were wide as she took in the scene. “Sir, what—”

Alex ordered her out of the room with an authoritative thrust of his index finger, never taking his eyes off Dunphy. She gasped at his rudeness but left and shut the door behind her.

Alex shook his head at Dunphy, unwilling to let this go. “Zahra’s been beside you since the moment you came out of recovery, is willing to stand by you no matter what, and you’re treating her like shit because you’re pissed off. I get why you’re doing it, I really do, but you need to pick a different target, someone that can take it and dish it right back. Because she can’t, and won’t. As for me? I’m happy to go fifteen rounds with you if you want.”

Dunphy glowered up at him, his muscles still quivering, but glanced away when a sheen of moisture gathered in his eyes. Alex straightened and took a step back, looked away when Dunphy covered his eyes with his hands and fought back the tears. Raw, harsh sounds filled the room as he struggled for control. Then he broke.

Alex turned away to give him some privacy, wincing inside. His heart went out to the guy, it truly did, but feeling sorry for himself and pushing Zahra away wasn’t the answer. Dunphy was going to need all the support he could get in the coming weeks and months ahead. Alex refused to let him sabotage that network.

Finally, after a few long minutes, Dunphy seemed to have let the worst of it out. When only sniffs remained, Alex turned back to face him, grabbed a tissue from the table positioned on the right side of the bed and held it out to Dunphy. Dunphy swiped it from him with a baleful scowl. “You asshole,” he muttered, but the heat was mostly gone, replaced by embarrassment at having Alex see him like this.

“I know.” He grinned. “Can I get you anything?”

Dunphy expelled a breath and let his head fall back against the pillow. His gaze moved to the table beneath the windowsill. “Shit, just hand me a brownie.”

Alex took three from the box, handed two to Dunphy. Alex eyed his own chocolaty morsel. “You sure these things are safe?”

Dunphy chuckled. “Pretty sure, yeah.” He bit into the first one, sighed as he chewed. “You know I love her,” he said after he swallowed.

Alex nodded. “I do.” It was the reason he’d come in here and gotten in Dunphy’s face.

“I just…God, I still can’t believe this is real. I knew plenty of guys who got fucked up pretty bad, lost limbs or wound up in a wheelchair because of shit they sustained in the line of duty. Just never thought it would happen to me.” He looked around the room toward the door and Alex could practically feel the weight of depression settling on the man’s chest.

Polishing off his brownie, Alex dusted his hands off and reached down to squeeze Dunphy’s shoulder. “I can’t even imagine what you’re going through,” he admitted honestly, “and I’m sorry as hell this happened. But I’m not gonna stand by and watch it beat you. So many injured guys I knew let it beat them, and they didn’t make it, whether due to medical reasons or because they wound up killing themselves.” Dunphy knew the stats as well as Alex did. “I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but you know the most important thing for you to do is to maintain a positive attitude. Even if you have to fake it, find something good in your life and focus on that. I don’t want to see you wind up a statistic, and I’m not just saying that for Zahra’s sake.” Alex cared about his teammates. All of them.

Dunphy nodded, patted the hand Alex had set on his shoulder. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Alex withdrew his hand and stuck both of his into his front pockets. “And when you do get up and moving again, if you still want to go fifteen rounds, gimme a call.”

One side of the man’s mouth quirked upward, a spark of humor glinting in his eyes. “I couldn’t fight an old fart like you. I’d feel bad kicking your ass.”

Alex barked out a laugh. He still had enough juice to hold his own in a fight. Maybe not for a full fifteen rounds anymore, but at least a few good ones. “Arrogant little bastard.”

Dunphy shrugged. “It’s the truth.”

The tension broken, Alex was in the process of pulling up a chair to continue the visit when his cell rang. Fishing it out, he saw Evers’s number and answered. “What’s up?”

“There’s been some recent activity you should know about,” the Fed answered.

“Okay.” Alex steeled himself for whatever was coming next. Had Hassani gotten out of the country?

“Someone dirty in the police force leaked the details about Grace’s taxi accident. Word is Hassani’s seen a picture of you with her. You were hugging her, apparently?”

The blood drained out of Alex’s face. Someone must have taken a picture of them when he’d pulled her from the cab. He’d been so focused on making sure she was okay, totally occupied with having her in front of him again, he hadn’t even been thinking of the possible security risks. God dammit.

“Someone’s been digging into her personal information in the past couple hours, her credit and job history. Hassani’s gotta know about your involvement with her. And he’s gonna know why she’s here.”

Alex’s fingers tightened around the phone. “Get more security on her.”

“I’ve already talked to her staff, it’s in the works.”

Not good enough. He was already on his feet, his brain compiling a list of everything he had to do to keep her safe. “I’ll bring her in.” He’d always thought his worst fear was losing Grace. Seeing her hurt again because of him was a thousand times worse. But it was too late to send her away now, even if he was willing to do that to protect her.

If Hassani knew about her and her connection to Alex, then she was a walking target. And as of this moment, it also meant she was as much a threat to Alex as Hassani himself.

In the hotel conference room, Grace flipped to the correct page of the report and scanned the passage in question. “No, I think the wording here is fine,” she said to David. “It needs to be made clear to them that the international community’s not going to allow Syria to mess around with the timetable. Syria has to dismantle their chemical weapons program and destroy their stockpiles by the date given, or we’ll do it for them.” Of course it wasn’t as simple or as easy as that, but there would be no wiggle room on the terms of the agreement.

“Okay. What about section six, part A-two?”

Everyone turned to that page, including Dr. Travis, the Canadian chemical weapons expert and head of their team, and the six other members gathered around the long rectangular table. “I’d like to strike the third point there,” Travis said as he adjusted his frameless glasses. He glanced up, his pale blue gaze landing on Grace. “I don’t like the wording and I don’t think it’s necessary. In fact, I think it opens up a can of worms we don’t want to have to deal with.”

“Agreed. I move to strike it from the report. Second?” She glanced around the table and one of the other members put their hand up. They followed Robert’s Rules of Order while David, acting as secretary for the meeting, recorded it all in the minutes.

The meeting with the Syrian envoy was in two days and there was no room for a margin of error. Compliance had been slow in coming and it was Grace’s team’s job to make them capitulate and sign this new binding agreement. The corrupt regime must be held responsible for its criminal actions and destroy its chemical weapons before it unleashed any further attacks on the civilian population. Seeing the horrific results and the human suffering up close and personal in the aftermath, when the UN had sent her team in days after the attack a few months ago was something she’d never forget. Innocent men, women and children had died horrific deaths. The faces of those dead children and babies in the hospital morgues would never leave her.