Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Today, twenty men. Four women. Same place.
Abdul Halim lifted his head from the message on his phone and gazed out the window of his high-rise apartment building.
His contact was telling him that twenty-four Westerners had arrived today and checked into the Royal Baq Hotel, the place where the government liked to corral the media.
It was ostensibly to protect them, but Abdul Halim knew that it was also to control their access.
The king and his government preferred to paint a picture of complete and utter control of the situation in Qu’rim when nothing was further from the truth.
He could see the Royal Baq Hotel’s domes from here. This influx of Westerners was not unexpected, but still he found it prudent to keep a watchful eye on their comings and goings through his contacts at the airport.
There were more new arrivals in the city than ever these days.
Reporters come to stir up the world about the situation in Qu’rim, no doubt.
Certainly some of them were CIA and MI6 operatives who were here for other reasons.
And then there were the military teams like the ones that had been sent for him so many times before.
He did not doubt that the Americans in particular would try again now that he’d seemingly returned to the land of the living.
But first they had to find him, and that was not going to be easy.
He took a drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke.
He’d spent a lot of time building this life he had now.
He was a wealthy Qu’rimi citizen. He had contacts in the government.
He provided a service to both sides of the conflict, though he would prefer that part stayed private.
Yes, it made his goals a little more difficult to achieve, but it enriched his coffers so he could realize his ultimate aims in the end.
He was a man with a plan, and he was on the brink of his greatest triumph.
Soon the Freedom Force would be the equal of any nuclear power on the planet.
They would not dismiss him so easily then.
Yet he still worried about the tiniest things. He picked up his phone again and hit redial. His brother answered.
“Any news?”
Farouk blew out a breath that no doubt contained cigarette smoke. Abdul Halim liked a cigarette now and again, but Farouk always had a lit one in his fingers. His brother knew precisely what he meant.
“Nothing. We’ve let too much time go by. We’re still searching for her near military bases in the US. But so far there’s nothing.”
Abdul Halim gritted his teeth. It had only been three weeks since Farouk had sent word to the network that Lucky Reid had to be found, and yet they’d had no progress.
He told himself that three weeks was nothing to worry about.
He had bigger things to concentrate on here.
Bigger goals. He could not spend his time worrying about the slim possibility that the United States government was somehow using Lucky Reid to find him.
She’d seen his face once, briefly, and she’d been in a lot of pain when she had.
Besides, he was careful not to be photographed, ever.
There were no pictures of him circulating in a file, nothing anyone could set in front of her and ask her to find him.
He needed to stop obsessing over this and move on to other things. Indeed, it was time for a diversion in Baq. Something to occupy the Qu’rimi government and their supporters. The populace—and the reporters—needed something new to worry about. And he needed something to look forward to.
“Keep looking.” He did not like loose ends. “And inform the faithful it is time for Baq to feel our presence.”
Everyone was in country and checked in by 2100 local time. The guys ranged around the room Kev shared with Lucky, all looking relaxed but on edge in a way that only a special operations team could be.
Matt had decided after a perimeter check that this room would do for their meetings.
They couldn’t meet often, not the full group, but the first night was crucial as they confirmed plans and discussed findings.
Several of the guys had gone out that afternoon, ostensibly to see the sights but really to check the city’s defenses.
Baq wasn’t an especially large city, but it was packed with military equipment and personnel.
The king was scared and with good reason.
The situation in Qu’rim was rapidly deteriorating—as evidenced by the bullet holes in those buildings earlier—hence the reason they’d moved up the go date on this op.
Kev only hoped the situation would hold out while they searched for their needle in the haystack.
Another team had been sent to the desert to help with security at the mine.
It was all very hush-hush, but surely it was a move the Freedom Force would expect.
This mission, however, was something he hoped they never considered possible.
Sending the only person in the world who could identify their leader into a war zone with a counterterrorism force at her back bordered on insanity at the best of times.
At the worst of times, well, he had no idea how to quantify it.
It was just fucking psychotic. And maybe that’s why it would work. If Al Ahmad didn’t see it coming, then maybe they had a chance.
“I’ve made contact with the embassy,” Matt said.
“Lucky and Kev will go over there tomorrow so Lucky can apply for a teaching job through the embassy. She’ll be assigned to a girls’ school near the palace where intel indicates that Al Ahmad’s daughter goes.
The school is very exclusive and small, so every student there will attend the same classes.
There’s already one English teacher, but she’s about to be reassigned. ”
Kev glanced at Lucky. She was frowning, and he knew she was thinking about the teacher who would be moved simply so she could get into place.
It couldn’t be helped, though. They needed whatever access they could get, and this was the way it worked.
The teacher would get another job—and maybe she’d get her old job back when they were gone, assuming the country hadn’t disintegrated into all-out civil war by then.
“The hotel is being watched,” Knight Rider said. “Not that we didn’t expect that.”
“Two different groups, we think,” Iceman added. “Obviously, the Qu’rimi military is watching. As for the other group… could be the Freedom Force, or it could be the Opposition.”
“We need to assume those are one and the same at this point,” Kev added.
Matt nodded. “Agreed. We have no idea what information they’re sharing, but if Al Ahmad is behind the rebellion—and all the indicators say he is—he’s got his fingers in the hierarchy.”
“Do we have any idea how old his daughter is yet?” Lucky asked. She’d been quiet the entire meeting so far.
Matt looked over at her. “Unfortunately, no.”
“You guys aren’t making this easy.”
“They’re still sifting the data back home, but so far we’ve got nothing else, chère.”
Kev frowned at the way Matt hesitated for a moment before he went back to the briefing. It could just be that he felt badly about not being able to give Lucky more information, or it could be that he knew something he wasn’t sharing.
Whatever the case, Kev’s senses went on high alert.
They talked for a few more minutes, everyone reporting in on his findings, and then they split into twos and threes, going back to their rooms so they could start fresh in the morning.
The guys would take short shifts during the night to stay awake and monitor the channels and perimeter for any suspicious activity.
Kev, of course, didn’t have to participate in that. His sole duty was Lucky. But when he walked Matt to the door, he glanced over his shoulder at her. She was sitting on the bed, leaning back against a pillow she’d propped up, her eyes closed.
“What aren’t you saying, Richie?” he asked as they stepped into the hall.
Matt looked up and down the corridor before meeting his eyes again. “It’s nothing she needs to know, you understand?”
His heart thumped. “Yeah.”
“Her name is on the latest intercepts.” He shrugged. “He’s looking for her, but he doesn’t know she married Marco. They’re still looking for her maiden name.”
A cold chill snaked through him, turning his spine to ice. “Jesus.”
“The good thing is they’re looking Stateside.”
That was a good thing, but just knowing that Al Ahmad was actively searching for her now… it lit a hot fire deep in Kev’s belly that he couldn’t extinguish.
Matt put a hand on his shoulder. “Go back inside and keep her safe. That’s your job. We’ll be with you all the way, man.”
Kev went back into the room. Lucky looked up as he shut the door behind him and gave him a little smile.
She looked tired. She couldn’t be called pale, not after several months in the Hawaiian sun, but she seemed more sallow than he’d yet seen her.
For a minute, he wondered if she’d heard them talking.
But that was impossible unless she had supersonic hearing.
She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and he thought back to when she’d come out of the bathroom earlier, nothing but a towel wrapped around her body, her tanned legs smooth and lean beneath the white cotton. Her hair had been wet then and she’d pushed it back just like that.
His dick had gone from zero to sixty in about half a second when she’d leaned over her suitcase and the towel had ridden up her thighs.
She’d dragged out some clothing before clutching it to her and retreating to the bathroom again.
When she’d emerged, she’d been covered from neck to ankle in a long dress that skimmed her curves.
She was still wearing that dress, and the blue swirling pattern set off the golden undertones of her hair to perfection.
“You feeling all right?” he asked, shoving away thoughts of her in a towel before he embarrassed himself.