Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
A loud knock on their hotel room door dashed Finn’s hopes of Julia elaborating on that particular truth bomb she’d just dropped. She shot out of her chair like the fire alarm had gone off and hurried to the door.
“Look through the peephole,” he called after her.
She turned and threw him a look that left no doubt she thought he was an overbearing dumbass, and maybe he was, but she’d just shared an incredibly emotional story, and he wanted to be sure she was thinking clearly.
When Harper and Roman joined them in the room, it was obvious by the expression on Roman’s face they had both good and bad news.
“We accessed Giorgio’s files. His client list and appointment schedules are heavily encrypted, so it’s going to take some time to decipher, but once I do, we’ll find out who he’s performed surgery on,” Harper quickly explained, hanging just inside the room and acting fidgety, as if they were short on time.
And were they short on time? Their op wasn’t a go until zero three hundred, and it was only twenty hundred hours. Was there a problem?
Out of the corner of his eye, Finn noticed Julia biting her lip, face pale, and arms banded tightly around her torso.
She’d been on edge since they’d arrived in Egypt, and now Finn knew the reason for her distress.
She was there to try and save the brother of the man she’d hoped to marry. But save him from what?
“We don’t have time right now to play the twenty-question game for me to uncover what you’re hiding, but it would make things easier if I knew the name of the person you’re hoping I find on the list.” Harper may have been blunt, but she managed to keep her tone gentle, probably not to spook Julia.
Her CIA tradecraft skills with performing interviews over the years came in handy.
A mere two days ago, Finn wouldn’t have thought Julia to be the type of woman who possessed an ounce of fragile or soft. Nor a woman who’d easily spook.
Hell, someone was sending her death threats and she’d been casual about it.
And wow, now that he thought about it, were the threats even real?
Did Michael suspect Julia might run off and try to help her friend and get herself involved in something dangerous?
Would he have come up with a bogus reason to force a bodyguard on her?
That didn’t seem like Michael, and why wouldn’t he have told the guys the truth?
Unless Julia begged him not to say anything, which Finn could see happening. But damn.
“Ario and Kaira Zare,” Julia revealed to Harper. “He was a building developer living in Dubai. Over the years, he lived in both the States and Saudi Arabia before moving to Dubai with his wife. I need to know if he had an appointment the first week of January this year.”
“The Ario Zare? The man thrown out of one of his firm’s skyscrapers under construction in Dubai?
” Roman joined the conversation, and of course, he’d heard of the guy.
“Killed by one of his bodyguards.” Roman took one step forward, now wearing the focused expression that Finn knew meant the puzzle pieces were coming together fast, like always.
“The bodyguard was formerly American military. It was in the news.” He drew his hands to his hips and shut his eyes as though going through the catalog of facts stored in that big brain of his.
“Oliver something.” Roman’s brown eyes flashed open. “And he’s going to be executed soon.”
Finn’s gaze swiveled straight to Julia. And there it was. Oliver was going to die, and this woman would do everything in her power to save him. But had Oliver really committed murder?
“Yes, and I . . .” Julia’s eyes cut to the floor. “I can’t be responsible for both Tucker and Oliver dying,” she whispered.
Finn’s stomach plummeted as he watched her step out to the balcony.
She sure as hell wasn’t responsible for her ex’s death, but why would she blame herself for what was happening to Oliver?
He turned to follow her, but Roman grabbed hold of his arm. “That conversation is going to have to wait,” Roman said. “Boys are prepping for the op now. We leave in five minutes.”
Finn frowned and looked back and forth between him and Harper. “Why now? It’s not even fully dark yet.”
“Our timetable was moved up,” Harper said. “The boys will explain. I’ll keep an eye on Julia and make sure she’s okay. But you won’t have radio access to me, and the cell service here is spotty.”
Roman glanced at the balcony to ensure Julia was out of earshot.
“We really need to roll out, brother. Natasha has eyes on the transport vehicle, but once they get within range of the restricted airspace of the airport, which is where we think they’re heading, the Agency will have to pull our eyes in the sky. ”
Natasha was their liaison with the CIA, as well as Wyatt’s wife. She and the director were the only people at the Agency aware of the existence of Bravo and Echo Teams, which made it tricky. But having her on the inside for the last twelve months had proved helpful on multiple occasions.
“Great.” That wasn’t the original plan. The op they’d prepped for was a bust, and from the sounds of it, they’d be rolling on the fly. Most likely a vehicle interdiction. “I have to at least say goodbye first. I’ll be fast.”
“Yeah, okay. Hurry.” Roman pulled Harper in for a pre-mission goodbye kiss while Finn went out onto the balcony.
Julia had her hands wrapped tight around the railing, eyes pointed toward the desert on the other side of the narrow part of the Nile.
“I have to go handle something. I shouldn’t be too long. Timeline changed. I hate leaving you like this, but it’s kind of a time-sensitive situation.” He kept his tone level as he stood alongside her.
She side-eyed him for only a second before fully facing him. “Everything okay?”
Hopefully. “It should be.” He turned toward her, surprised when she placed her palm on his forearm.
In all of his years serving, he’d never had any pre-mission goodbye moments.
On the rare occasion he was in a relationship, notice of deployment had resulted in him and his girlfriend parting ways prior to shipping out.
So, why did this feel like one of those goodbye moments?
And now, an odd, unsettling feeling struck him in the gut.
Was this how the rest of Echo felt when they kissed their loved ones goodbye and prayed it wasn’t the last time they saw them?
She’s an assignment. A favor, Finn reminded himself. Nothing more.
Yet, there was a tremble in his arm beneath her delicate palm.
“We’ll talk when I get back, okay? I hate leaving you like this, but I don’t have much of a choice. I’m sorry,” he admitted, carefully treading around the truth without lying.
She held his gaze, her eyes a little glossy as if holding back tears. “You do what you need to do. I’ll be here. And I’ll stay in the room like you asked.”
“Thank you.” He forced an awkward smile as she slowly lowered her hand.
Almost as if she hadn’t wanted to let go.
He filled his lungs with a deep pull of the hot evening air and held it as he gave her one last look before walking back into the room.
As soon as his back was to her, Finn released the breath he’d been holding.
“Keep her safe,” he said, opening the door.
“Of course. Stay safe, too.” Harper gave him a tight smile.
“Roger that.” Finn went to Wyatt’s room, where Roman was in the process of swapping his clothes.
A.J. and Chris weren’t there yet, so he assumed they were securing the vehicles.
Wyatt held a large duffel bag in one hand, which had the weapons they’d need for the mission inside. Using his thumb to motion over his shoulder, he said, “Get dressed. I’ll update you on the rest of the mission details when we’re in the car.”
Finn strapped on his titanium-and-steel-armor-plated vest that could withstand a hit from an AK-47 to the back or chest, then pulled on an oversized black polo to hide it.
Lastly, he swapped his pants for khakis.
He wrapped a white-and-black-checkered shemagh around his neck and over his head.
He left his face exposed for now, but he’d cover everything except his eyes once on the op.
The scarves were common in the desert heat, which made for convenient disguises, but Finn was used to wearing them on military ops as well.
Once they were outside, Finn and Wyatt joined A.J., who sat behind the wheel of a beat-up old Land Cruiser. Roman and Chris rode in the second vehicle behind them.
“So, what the hell is going on?” Finn cut straight to it as they rolled away from the hotel.
Wyatt twisted in his seat from where he sat shotgun to look back at Finn. “Tariq paid the weapons dealer an hour ago, and he’s already back at the hotel.”
Finn hissed under his breath. “Damn it, and CIA intel had suggested the exchange wasn’t going to happen until tomorrow.”
“Earlier, Chris and A.J. followed the arms dealer to the site five klicks outside the city, then Natasha directed the site to be monitored by drone. Tariq and the dealer exchanged money, then Tariq left three of his men there and returned to the hotel,” Wyatt explained.
“His men started loading some odd-shaped containers into the back of a big rig-type truck. They rolled out a few minutes ago, and Natasha believes they’re heading for the airport, which is about forty minutes from the site. ”
“Now that it’s no longer possible to plant trackers with the weapons to follow them to this new hate group, are we going to destroy the weapons like Bravo did in Pakistan?” Finn asked.
“The CIA has decided to follow the money now that we know Tariq is the financier,” Wyatt replied.
“Wasn’t that our original suggestion?” Finn shook his head. But the higher-ups called the shots, so what could they do?