Chapter 15
After the world’s longest lunch, everyone dispersed. Omar and Marielle returned to their stateroom to finish packing.
As they neared their door, she told him the information they’d been sent to retrieve existed only in Hanna’s head. The only way to complete their mission was to extract her. Which meant going directly against Jake’s orders.
He was about to respond, but then he froze. The locking mechanism on their door was slightly bent. Someone had been in here.
He caught Marielle’s eye and jerked his chin at it. She saw it too, her expression tightening.
Inside, they did a quick sweep but nothing seemed obviously disturbed. Their bags were still packed, the few items they hadn’t yet packed were where they’d left them. But someone had definitely been here, searching for … something.
“Someone’s onto us,” Omar whispered.
“The Secret Service agents?”
“Maybe. Or Idris’s guards. Or both.” He ran a hand through his hair and murmured. “We need to contact Jake. Tell him Hanna confirmed she’s the asset.”
She pulled the covcom from her bra. He snorted. So that’s where she’d stashed it.
They composed the message together, their heads bent close over the tiny screen:
Made contact with asset. Data not stored externally. Requires extraction of asset herself.
Jake’s response was immediate:
NEGATIVE. ORDERS STAND. LEAVE THE ASSET. EXTRACT YOURSELVES IMMEDIATELY.
Omar felt Marielle tense beside him. He typed back:
Understood. Will extract at first opportunity tomorrow.
He powered down the device and handed it back to Marielle.
“We can’t just leave her,” she whispered.
“Jake’s right. This is way outside our mission parameters. VP’s son, Secret Service, international waters—”
“She’s being held prisoner, Omar. Whatever her father and Idris’s father are doing, she’s collateral. You saw how he treats her.”
“I know. But if we extract her, we’re going rogue. You understand that?”
She held his gaze. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
Marielle whispered, “I keep thinking about Olivia. All those years with Mateo. How the Agency hung her out to dry. How I didn’t do enough to help her even though I knew what he was like.”
Omar understood then. This was about Hanna and the mission, but it was also about something else for Elle.
“We’ll get her out,” he said quietly.
“Promise?”
He thought about his career, about Jake’s orders, about all the very good reasons they should walk away. Then he thought about being able to look at himself in the mirror.
“Promise.”
By wordless agreement, they climbed into the massive bed to take a nap. They needed to be rested for what was to come. They fell asleep forehead to forehead, their arms and legs tangled together.