Chapter 6 #2
There was no need to use the man’s last name. They all knew Tariq well. There was only one Tariq on their FSL (Fucking Shit List). A man they’d been gunning to take down ever since they’d learned he’d been behind funding various acts of terrorism overseas during the last five years.
But the U.S. government had placed Tariq on one of their own lists.
The Off-Limits one. The Department of Defense and the CIA had weighed the pros and cons of targeting a cousin to the immediate Saudi royal family, and the powers that be in Washington opted to ignore the evidence linking Tariq to criminal activity.
His blood money never killed any Americans, so it’s not our business, had been the actual line that came from the Intelligence Committee.
“You know what will happen when I run this up the line.” Harper sat at the desk and opened her laptop.
“They’re going to ask us to destroy the weapons and get out of Dodge instead,” Finn remarked. “Forget this whole thing.”
“They don’t want another Iraq War, only this time with the Saudis.
Russia will get involved. Iran.” Wyatt was trying to be the voice of reason, but Finn knew he hated this as much as they all did.
“And they firmly believe if the U.S. takes out a member of the royal family, we’ll be stepping into some deep shit. ”
Finn dropped into the armchair by the desk and looked at Roman standing over Harper’s shoulder as she uploaded the photo of Tariq into their facial recognition software for an identity confirmation.
“Oh, and shit, that’s not even the lead story.” He tossed a hand in the air at his forgetfulness. “The plastic surgeon Julia told you she wanted to meet up with in Egypt,” he began when Harper turned in her chair to look at him, “was just talking to Tariq in the lobby.”
This had Wyatt standing from where he’d been working on the bed. “You’re not serious.”
“I really wish this was a joke.” Finn rotated his neck, working out the kinks he was certain Julia had put there from worrying about her.
“I had a feeling there was something off about Julia’s story,” Harper said.
“So, while you were in the city, I did a deep dive into his background. Giorgio Ferrari isn’t just any plastic surgeon.
Ferrari is his alias. A cover story or whatnot.
He specializes in the change-your-face-to-fake-your-death kind of business. ”
“Well, that’s just spectacular.” Finn lowered his gaze to his phone on his thigh to check the app of the camera positioned on the hotel door. “What are we thinking? Did Julia start chatting up this Lorenzo guy on Instagram as a way to get to his boss?”
“But why in the bloody hell would she want to talk to some face-changing criminal doc?” Wyatt asked the million-dollar question. He looked at Finn as if he had a damn clue.
Not. At. All.
“Someone has to be helping Julia with all of this, right?” Harper pointed out. “Unless she’s a cyber genius that we don’t know about.”
“She may not be a cyber guru,” Roman said, “but her brother invented a lot of tech the military uses.”
“Maybe Michael knows more than he let on when he asked us to be her protection. Could there be more than the office threats?”
“I’ll have Luke call Michael. Bravo is still in Pakistan until we’re done here. But if anyone can pull intel out of Michael, it’ll be Bravo One,” Wyatt suggested.
“And since Bravo’s intel about their op didn’t include Tariq’s name, I guess it’s a good thing I happened to stumble upon him here.
” Finn stood, feeling antsy at the idea Julia might get caught in the middle of all of this.
But if he hadn’t brought her with him, she may have found a way to ditch Kevin and come to Egypt anyway.
The idea of her alone here unprotected made him sick to his stomach.
“I hate that we won’t be able to stop Tariq. And we’ll be sent on our merry damn way back home.” Wyatt grunted with frustration.
“What good are we?” Why do our teams even exist? “We’re supposed to be able to do the shit the military can’t, and I say Tariq falls under that ‘do shit’ category. We can blame his death on someone else. It’s not like the CIA hasn’t done that five thousand times before.”
“I don’t know, brother,” Roman joined the conversation. “No clue. But I would like to know why Tariq’s meeting with this doctor.”
“Right. He doesn’t need a face-change, get-out-of-jail-free card when he’s living it up,” Finn continued his line of thought. “Unless it’s for someone Tariq is working with.”
“Which is more likely, and that someone can’t safely travel yet,” Harper said.
“I just don’t get how Julia is connected to all of this.
You should go try and talk to her again.
See if you can get her to open up.” She set her laptop aside.
“Julia said she’s trying to help someone.
But who? Does someone she knows need a new identity? ”
“I’ll try to find out. But I’ll fail again unless I agree to her terms.”
“And what are her terms?” Roman’s dark brows lifted in question.
“We don’t stop her from trying to complete her mission or tell her brother,” Finn said after a sigh.
“Talk about a red flag.” Wyatt grimaced. “Just say what you have to say to get her to open up, and we’ll go from there. I hate saying that, but what choice do we have?”
Finn had to say yes to Wyatt even if he wasn’t thrilled to lie to Julia.
Chain of command. Wyatt was Echo One, the team leader.
And he was most likely right. “Roger that.” Finn started for the door, his thoughts drifting to the words from the woman who’d sold Julia the Osiris mini statue once again.
“I’ll let you know when the boys are back,” Wyatt said as Finn opened the door. “We’re ready for tonight. All squared away for the plan unless POTUS wants to change it with Tariq being in town. For now, just focus on Julia.”
Focus on Julia. That sounded like a recipe for disaster, but he followed orders, tucked his phone into his pocket, and went back to their shared hotel room.
The bathroom door was shut when he entered their room. She must’ve still been in the shower.
“Julia?” He rapped at the door with his knuckles when he didn’t hear any running water. “You okay in there?”
“Yes, but I’d prefer you not to be in the room while I’m wet and naked.”
Finn set both palms on the door and bowed his head. “Thank you for that image,” he muttered sarcastically. “Fucking thank you.”
Instead of focusing on how to handle this Tariq-meets-the-plastic-surgeon situation, Finn’s thoughts were on handling Julia in the shower.
Lathering up her gorgeous body, making sure to give her nipples special attention as the water rolled down her curves.
Pushing her wet, glistening hair aside and slowly licking her neck before sucking on her smooth skin like it was nectar from a peach.
Yeah, he’d give her a hickey right there. Mark her as his.
“Finn? You still there?” she asked in a soft voice.
Focus, man. “No.”
“Funny. But I left my clothes out there. I only have the hotel robe.”
I’ve seen you in a robe before, he considered reminding her. And he was fairly certain the hotel robe was thick and white and wouldn’t show her nipples like the black silk one she had on yesterday. “I can hand you what you want to wear.”
He went to her open suitcase on the floor, surprised it wasn’t a Louis Vuitton or something he’d assume rich women like the Kardashians would own.
Unsurprisingly, Julia was tidy and organized. She had little pink travel bags inside her suitcase separating everything. One for shirts. Another for pants. And, of course, her undergarments.
“No, I don’t need you rifling through my things,” she said while opening the door.
Finn released the bag that had her panties inside and slowly stood to face her.
Her skin was wiped free of makeup, and damn, she was beautiful. The white waffle-pattern robe was not as thick as he’d thought it’d be, but it did the job of hiding her body.
“Everything okay with your team?” she asked as she padded into the room toward her luggage.
Finn noticed her toenails were painted white like her fingernails. And then she leaned forward to search through her suitcase, and he almost surrendered to his shit-for-timing desires and spoke his mind.
But instead of letting her know that sass of hers and all that came with it was a total turn-on, he sat on the bed and kept his mouth shut.
She started for the bathroom, clothes in hand as vestiges of steam from what must have been a really hot shower floated into the bedroom. Hadn’t she been trying to cool off, though?
Just before she disappeared into the bathroom again, Julia turned toward him.
Finn studied her, watching a series of emotions play out on her face—disappointment, fear, indecision—before she took him by surprise and said, “What would you do if a friend of yours was in trouble? The kind of trouble that’s life or death? ”
Her blue eyes shimmered as if this tough woman was on the verge of tears and fighting to keep it together the same as before her shower.
“I’d walk through hell and back for them.” He glimpsed the figure of Osiris still on the bed. “Please tell me who is in trouble and why you need to talk to this doctor.”
She was quiet as if mulling over his question, and then her eyes made the slow journey to his face. “I need a copy of his client list to see if someone who is supposed to be dead really isn’t . . .”
“So, you dated Lorenzo to get to Giorgio?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “A friend helped me. I’m not a pro at this undercover work.”
Undercover work? He needed to know all of the details, damn it. “Giorgio’s clients are criminals, and that makes him one, too. You think he’ll confess his sins to you and let you walk away after?”
She squeezed her eyes closed.
He turned and looked toward the glass French doors and out at the view of the river and desert in the distance. “I’m not one hundred percent certain, but it’s possible your problem and my situation are connected,” he hesitantly revealed, “so I’ll get his client list for you.”
At the feel of her hand on his back, he turned to find her standing an arm’s length away. “You will?” she whispered. “How?”
He wasn’t sure what the hell he was getting himself into with this woman, and he hadn’t totally followed Echo One’s orders yet, but damn that sad look in her eyes . . . how could he not help her?
“The good old-fashioned way.” Finn forced a smile, hoping he wasn’t going to regret this. “I’ll steal it.”