Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
The next morning . . .
Lena stood alone by the windows in the Tac-Ops conference room, waiting patiently for Rafe and his team.
Without warning, a large, decidedly unladylike yawn stretched her mouth wide as she absentmindedly studied the busy streets below.
Sleep hadn’t come easily the previous night.
Between her racing mind and the unfamiliar bed, it had taken hours for her to find actual rest.
When she did manage to sleep, Lena’s dreams had been filled with a seemingly endless loop of memories. Some good. Others not so much.
And then, there were the dreams about Rafe.
You shouldn’t go there, Lena. This isn’t the time or place.
The truth of her innermost thoughts didn’t keep her underserved libido from standing up and taking notice. Rafe had always been attractive. Even back when they were just a couple of tadpoles in a sea of clandestine agents, she was tempted as hell.
But now—
With his salt-and-pepper hair, sexy English accent, and muscles that went on for days, the guy could easily play the part of the next James Bond. Lena, on the other hand, wasn’t sure she fit the bill as the super spy’s next “girl”.
Even so, a little harmless fantasizing never hurt anyone, did it?
He could double-oh-seven the heck out of me.
A shameless smile lifted the corners of her lips, but they quickly lowered as Lena looked straight down. It was impossible to see the exact spot where Rafe’s daughter had been shot from way up here. But he’d pointed it out a few minutes before, while on their way inside the man’s building.
The blood had already been washed away, as if it had never happened. But it did happen. Less than twenty-four hours ago, Alice Garrison had been shot and was almost killed.
Poor Rafe. First, his wife, and now he’d come close to losing his child, too.
As planned, they’d stopped by the hospital this morning before coming to the office.
Lena had stayed in the ICU waiting room while Rafe went back to Alice’s room.
The eased expression on his face when he’d returned several minutes later was the first real sign that the beloved tech analyst really was going to be okay.
From what Rafe had shared, Alice was awake and alert. She even remembered everything right up until the moment she was shot. Lena had felt her own dose of hefty relief upon hearing the news.
She sent up a quick prayer of thanks, knowing Rafe had been faced with more than his fair share of bloodshed. But despite it all, he was the same incredible man as he’d been years ago. A true warrior of justice and peace.
Unfortunately for Lena, Rafe was also the one man she’d never been able to forget. The proverbial “one who got away”.
You can’t lose something that was never yours.
“Hey, Boss.”
She blinked, her breath hitching slightly as she pushed thoughts of Rafe aside. Spinning around, Lena smiled at the familiar face that had just appeared.
“Hello, Colt.”
Coulter Morgan, the ex-CIA agent who’d previously worked under her command walked over to where she stood.
“Guess I should’ve said ‘former’ boss.” The handsome man held out a hand in her direction. “Good to see you, Agent Price. Or should I say, Director?”
“You can call me Lena now, you know?” Her smile grew as the two shared a quick shake. “Since, as you astutely pointed out, I’m no longer your boss.”
“Maybe not, but you are still an agent.”
“True.” Lena chuckled as her hand fell back to her side. Growing serious, she added a softer, “I’m sorry about what happened to your friend.”
“Shadow’s not just a friend; she’s family,” Colt corrected. “But yeah. Thanks. We’re all relieved as hell that she’s going to be okay.” He studied her a moment. “Is that why you’re here? Do you know something about the shooting?”
“Actually, I—”
She didn’t get the chance to finish because at that very same moment, Rafe’s commanding voice sounded as he walked into the room.
“The others will be joining us shortly.”
Lena and Colt both turned his way.
“Agent . . . er, Lena was just saying she’s here because of what happened to Shadow,” Colt assumed to know why she was here.
“Actually, that’s not exactly—”
“We’ll cover all that once everyone’s here,” Rafe interrupted her next.
Lena clamped her mouth shut and filled her lungs with a calming breath to keep from speaking her frustration aloud.
Tensions were high, which was to be expected given what the team had gone through hours before. Colt and his fellow Tac-Ops teammates were most likely jumping out of their skin with the urge to hunt down and capture whoever had nearly killed one of their own.
Rafe was almost certainly standing on a precarious ledge. One that stood between a desire for justice and the bloodthirsty need for revenge.
As for Lena, she would help in any way he and his team needed to bring down Kozlova any way that they could. Whether the international criminal was behind the recent shooting or not, he still needed to pay for the crimes from his past.
“Bones is parking his car, and then he’ll be up.” Ethan McCallister entered the room.
Known as “Apollo” to his team, the tall, dark, and deadly operator made his way over to the room’s massive table. Pulling out one of several wheeled chairs, he took a seat, crossing an ankle at one of his knees.
Colt motioned toward the long table. “Guess we should head over there, too, so we can get started as soon as Bones gets here.”
“I’m here!” Beckett “Bones” Stone rushed into the room less than a minute later. “Sorry.” The team’s medic flashed them all a quick wave. “I ran home to shower and change.” He plopped down into the chair to Apollo’s right with a sleepy smirk. “You’ll thank me later.”
“Let’s get started.” Rafe’s accented timbre pulled Lena’s attention to the front of the room.
Her lower belly tightened, and her heart gave the same familiar kick it always did whenever he was near. Too bad the silver-fox hunk was still locked up behind the walls of his past.
One of these days, I’m going to find a way to tear those damn walls down.
Or she wouldn’t. Lena had no way of seeing into the future. So for now, she chose to focus on the present, which meant finding Kozlova. After that, perhaps—
“How’s Shadow doing this morning?” Apollo’s dark gaze landed on Rafe’s.
“She’s good.” Rafe nodded. “Much better, actually. Director Price and I stopped by the hospital on our way here. Digger is still refusing to leave her side, of course, but she was awake and in good spirits.”
Bones snorted. “More like pissed as hell.”
“That, too.” Rafe’s mouth began to form a small smirk, but almost instantly, it fell flat.
His gaze slid to Lena, and he motioned for her to join him.
“In the meantime, I’m sure you’re all as anxious to find those responsible as I am, and after an unexpected visit from Director Price, we may already have an idea. I’ll let her explain.”
Lena joined Rafe at the front of the room.
“Thank you. And please”—she looked to the others—“call me Lena. I’m here as a supportive friend, first and foremost. Though you should know, I’m going to do everything in my power to find and stop the man we believe is responsible for what happened to Shadow.”
She purposely used the team’s nickname for Alice, needing them to see that she understood. This wasn’t some random job in which they’d been assigned. Someone had gone after one of their own, and they needed to trust that she had their backs.
“It’s good to see you all again,” Lena greeted the three men. “Obviously, I wish it were under different circumstances.”
With a gleam in his eye and an ornery smirk on his lips, Coulter was the first to respond.
“I’m gonna skip right past the part where you and Owens rode here together this morning,” the former CIA operative quipped, “and simply say it would be nice if you could drop by one of these days when we’re not in the middle of a shit storm.”
He did have a point. The last time she was in Charlotte was when Coulter’s now-fiancée had been kidnapped and was nearly sold in an underground sex-trafficking ring. So yes, it would be nice to come for a visit that didn’t involve a dangerous mission.
As for the other—
May as well put the rumor to rest before it begins.
“I went to your boss’s home late last night for the same reason I’m here today.” With a nod, Lena gave Rafe the signal to power up the wall-mounted flatscreen behind him.
When he did, an image of their presumed target almost immediately filled the screen.
“Who’s that?” Bones asked with a yawn.
Poor guy looks dog tired.
“His name is Alexei Kozlova.” Lena’s back teeth ground together. “The only target in my entire CIA career to ever get away.”
“Same goes for me,” Rafe shared. “Kozlova was one of two targets we were after during my last op with MI6.”
“Okay . . .” Coulter let his voice trail. “How is this guy connected to yesterday’s shooting?”
“We’re not certain he is.” Lena’s head slid from side to side.
“To fully understand, I need to backtrack a little, so please, bear with me.” She took in a deep breath, and then she began.
“Twenty-seven years ago, to be exact. Kozlova was one of two targets during a joint CIA-MI6 operation that took place on the ground in Syria.”
“It’s where Lena and I first met.”
Glancing over at Rafe, she fought hard not to let her mind wander back to that day. Later, she’d afford herself the time to reminisce about how he’d stolen her breath at first sight.
And then, as always, Lena could lament all the years spent secretly pining for him since.
“The short of it is,” she continued, “we were set up at a small café in Damascus. The plan was to surveil a meeting between Kozlova and another man named Omar Haddad as they discussed a contemptuous merging of their respective smuggling organizations.”
Picking up where she left off, Rafe shared the next part of their past.