Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Finn wasn’t sure if he was in the depths of a nightmare or if this was his reality. He was moving in slow motion, his trigger finger so stiff he was unable to get a shot off as he stared into the eyes of his enemy in the desert.
A hot wind blew relentlessly, and the swirling sand felt like vicious bits of glass as it pelted him. And yet, the man kept coming as if the sandstorm carried him to Finn.
His enemy was on horseback, and his face wrapped in a black shemagh.
And Finn was going to die if he didn’t get his finger to move.
The horse slowed to stand before him, front legs prancing up and down as the sand whirled around them. The man slowly lowered his headscarf.
“Jaden?” Why was his brother on that horse? Why was he raising his rifle and—
Finn jolted upright with a gasp, blinking against the brightness in the room, his eyes feeling gritty.
Shit, shit, shit. He’d fallen asleep on the couch when he was supposed to be keeping an eye on Julia to make sure she didn’t pull a fast one and skip out on him.
POTUS had nixed the idea of Julia catching a ride to Dubai with Echo Team, and she’d been a little miffed, to put it mildly.
Finn’s petition that Julia accompany the team had been sent up the chain from Wyatt to Luke and on to POTUS, who struck it down. Luke shared that he’d been made privy to the fact that Michael had spoken to the President and made the personal request she not go to Dubai.
The hotel room was lit up well enough for a plane to land in there as the sun shone through the window by the couch, and it wasn’t until he stood that he noticed the bed unmade and empty.
She had to be in the bathroom. He wouldn’t accept any other option.
His heart hammered as he shook off the dream and prayed he wasn’t stepping into a real nightmare, one where Julia had taken off without a word, without him.
“Julia?” he called out, scanning the room for her suitcase or purse as he moved with hurried steps to the bathroom.
He slammed his hands against the doorframe and looked inside. Empty.
“Damn it, woman.” He was still dressed and wearing his boots, so he grabbed his gun and rushed out of the suite and to the stairwell, not wanting to wait for the elevator.
He couldn’t have been asleep for long. The last thing he remembered before nodding off was the sun just beginning to rise. He’d head for the airport and the private hangars since a private plane was her only option to go from Aswan to Dubai. How did you manage to get a plane, Jewels?
She’d been texting someone last night after they’d turned off the lights and she was in bed, but she promised it wasn’t Mya.
She lied to me. She lied, damn it.
He was too worried to be as angry with her as he should be right now.
There was still the chance someone had learned about Mya’s investigative work and connected the dots to Julia.
No doubt, there was a cyber footprint of Julia and Oliver’s relationship as well, and it’d take all of a minute to discover who her brother was and how important Michael was to the U.S. government.
Finn darted out the front doors of the hotel, yellow caution tape from the crime scene still strung across the area, but Giorgio’s death felt like a distant memory now.
He needed a ride to the airport, but all the valets were busy, and he didn’t have time to wait. So, he ran outside of the hotel gates hoping to find a taxi, or worst case, he’d hijack a car. He’d pretty much stop at nothing to get to her in time.
He was overwhelmed by a wave of relief when he spotted Julia standing at the curb a hundred feet away, a gentle breeze blowing the skirt of her pink sundress.
She must have felt his presence because she turned and dropped her suitcase at the sight of him.
Even from a distance, he noticed her shoulders collapse once she’d fully faced him.
He cautiously walked toward her, wanting to run the distance, but he was worried she’d sprint away like a frightened deer if he moved too fast.
Julia went for her bag, and he said a mental thank you that it appeared she wasn’t going to take off.
And then everything happened in slow motion like in his dream . . . and why wasn’t he going for his gun?
Why couldn’t he move when a man jumped from the passenger side of a nearby blue sedan and grabbed Julia.
Move! Fucking move! Panic drove him toward Julia as the man dragged her to the back of the vehicle and threw her into the now-open trunk.
The sound of her scream and the image of Julia’s outstretched hand just before the trunk slammed shut would be forever burned into his brain.
Finn managed to reach them and slap a hand on the trunk before the car lurched forward.
“No, no, no.” He ignored all of the chatter and voices raised in surprise from the people gathered around who had witnessed an abduction happen right before their eyes.
Now desperate, Finn jumped in front of the next car coming down the road, grabbed his gun from the back of his pants, and pointed it inside the driver’s open window. Then in Arabic, he commanded the man to hop out or die.
The driver quickly surrendered and stumbled out, and Finn slid behind the wheel to pursue.
“Come on, come on.” The little white two-door car sputtered as if the engine might croak from the desert heat as he tried to catch up with the sedan.
Did Julia remember any of the skills he’d taught her in class?
The sedan was too old to have a trunk release like he’d taught her to use if the situation were ever to arise, and she was in a locked trunk.
Not that he’d ever imagined this moment in a thousand years or that he’d ever let it happen.
But it had, all because he’d hesitated. Those two seconds he stood frozen like in his dream might cost Julia her life, and that was guilt he’d never walk away from unscathed.
Praying there was a screwdriver or a tire iron in that trunk, and she recalled the lesson, Finn knew she had a shot. As long as she didn’t freeze the way he had.
“You got this, Jewels,” he whispered under his breath as if he could actualize what needed to happen. “Open the trunk. Come on. Come on.”
Finn slammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel when his car struggled to keep up. He didn’t have time to ditch this one and hijack another.
Both his car and the sedan in front of him left the city limits a few minutes later, and they headed into what felt like nothing but desert surrounding the Nile.
“Don’t be a mirage,” he rasped at what appeared to be the trunk . . . opening.
The driver of the sedan suddenly slammed on the brakes, probably realizing what Julia was doing.
That’s my girl, Finn thought as his heart pounded erratically.
The trunk had started to bounce closed again when the car lurched, but Julia’s slender arm reached up and caught it.
Finn came to an abrupt halt and jumped out of the car when he saw Julia struggling to climb out of the trunk. He knew it was only a matter of seconds before the driver and passenger of the sedan would be on them.
He went for his piece and rushed toward her, practically throwing her behind him the moment he reached her. “Get in the car,” he hollered, shielding her from a bullet that just missed clipping his shoulder as he felt it speed by.
Without delay this time, Finn snapped out a round, hitting the man who’d discharged his weapon and was still leaning out of the passenger side window right in the face.
One more to go, and he needed him alive for questioning.
Finn quickly glanced behind him to verify Julia was out of danger, then crouched behind the open trunk of the sedan.
Worried the man might escape, Finn took the chance to make a move, keeping his head low as he crept alongside the vehicle.
He checked to ensure there were no surprise guests in the backseat, then aimed his weapon at the driver, who clutched the wheel with one hand and pointed a gun at Finn with the other.
“This is not your day to die,” Finn growled through the open window. Sweat poured down the driver’s cheeks, and he gave off all the signs of an amateur, not someone Tariq would send. Not like the skilled men he and his team had faced last night. “But it can be if you move a fucking muscle.”
Maybe the guy didn’t understand English, but the look Finn read in his eyes said he wasn’t going down without a fight.
With his weapon still aimed at the driver’s head, Finn swiftly reached inside with his free hand and grabbed the man’s wrist. The asshole fired out the window and into the sky.
Finn knocked the weapon free next, and fueled by adrenaline, he pulled the man through the window and tossed him like the trash he was to the ground.
“Who sent you?” He crouched over the guy, fisted his shirt, and shouted the question in Arabic.
The man continued to struggle silently, attempting to fight back. He was lean and lacked upper body strength. Or hell, any kind of strength or skills to go up against Finn.
The memory of Julia being taken and him watching it happen kept circling in his mind as he pummeled her assailant.
“Who? Tell me! I need a name,” he screamed before kneeling alongside him.
The guy opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seething, Finn cocked his head and hissed, “So, it’s going to be like that?” He sent an elbow to the man’s face, and it was lights out for the asshole.