Authors: Kariss Lynch
“Did I ever. Good-lucking guy, blond, about five-eleven. Sexy accent. He knocked
on the door and asked if he could borrow some tools to fix his broken-down car. I
let him in, we wound up in my bedroom, and I woke up here.”
Kaylan looked at her.
“You can drop the judgmental look. Mark this as the day I acknowledged I have a serious
guy problem.”
“If we get out of here, I'll remind you.”
Kaylan and Megan huddled at the back of the boat shed behind the boat, wrench and
screwdriver in hand, listening for any sounds of their kidnapper returning. The drugs
had worn off, leaving Kaylan with a splitting headache and really bad temper. She
doubted their assailant would return alone and feared what more manpower would mean
for her and Megan's escape plan.
“Have I ever told you that I'm claustrophobic?” Megan's alto voice broke the silence.
Kaylan chuckled. “No, I don't think I knew that.”
“It's bad. I start hyperventilating. Then drooling all over myself. Then talking
really fast.”
“I think you're just doing the last one.”
Megan hit her head against the wall of the boat shed. “Man, it must be getting worse.
I'm doing it all out of order.”
“Save your energy, Meg.”
Silence descended again. Kaylan gripped the wrench. They'd be in for the fight of
her life if she had anything to say about it. Exhaustion threatened to break her
focus. “Have I ever told you that you're the best friend I ever had?”
Kaylan turned to look at her roommate. In the dim light from the moon, Megan's porcelain
skin looked even paler. She wouldn't look at Kaylan, but Kaylan reached for her hand
and squeezed.
“You aren't so bad yourself.”
“I mean it, Kaylan. I don't know anyone that would have come after me like you did.”
Kaylan tasted fear creeping over her. In a way, this moment reminded her of her last
minutes with Sarah Beth. She gripped Megan's hand tighter. “You know we're getting
out of here, right?”
Megan shifted to face Kaylan, her legs curling beneath her on the boards. “I want
you to promise me something. If it comes to a fight and one of us has the chance
to get away, I want you to run and not look back.”
“No way.”
“Kayles, I'm serious. You have a life, a family who loves you, a man who would die
for you.”
Her fingers dug into Megan's skin, and Kaylan's gaze never wavered from Megan's eyes.
“Listen very closely. I will not leave you. We are going to fight, and we are going
to get out of here. Logan will send someone.”
Megan shook her head. “I know you believe that. But just promise me. I've been through
this before. I can handle it.”
Kaylan's heart sank. There it was, the secret Megan guarded with sarcasm. “Megan,
what do you mean . . . ?”
Scuffling sounded from outside the doors, and Kaylan heard the shifting of a metal
chain sliding free. She stood to her feet, fighting the dizziness. If they came in,
she would not be lying down. She would take this fighting. Megan stumbled up behind
her. They scurried to the back of the shed, flattening themselves to the wall. The
metal tool seemed to heat in her hand. Time to fight.
N
ICK HAD FAILED
to protect Kaylan, and he was going out of his mind with worry.
Surrounded by other SEALs, he beat a path toward Janus, caring little about the repercussions.
If she wouldn't talk, someone would have to restrain him from killing her. They had
reached a dead end. Their last hope for quickly identifying Kaylan's location remained
in the hands of a psychopathic terrorist.
“Hawk, chill, brah. You're not thinking clearly.” Colt grabbed at his arm, but Nick
swung away, barreling across the landing field and toward a waiting plane. They'd
only been back from Ukraine a few hours, but he knew they didn't want to wait long
to transport Janus to a safe place for questioning. The plane sat gassed and ready
to load.
He spotted her walking across the tarmac. All five foot one of her, head held high,
nose almost stuck in the air. Right now he didn't care if this woman was the pope;
he wanted to punch the smug look off her face and keep going until she told him Kaylan's
location.
Micah stepped in front of him, and Nick stopped short, coming nose to nose with his
best friend. “Move.”
Nick watched Micah's jaw flex, could almost see his mind
whirring, choosing his words
carefully. “I want to find my sister as much as you do. But you will not help things
if you take that woman out, wanted murderer and terrorist or not.” Micah reached
in his pocket and tossed Nick a piece of Juicy Fruit gum. “Now pop that in your mouth,
shut up, and let me talk since you clearly can't control yourself right now.”
“Bulldog, get out of my way.” He attempted to shove past Micah, but he stood firm,
his mouth tightening slightly as Nick jarred his injured arm. Nick would care about
that. Later.
“Hawk!” Nick flinched at the sound of X's gruff voice. He stiffened and refused
to turn around, his gaze glued on Janus's progress. The team around her had stopped,
taking in the action.
X moved past Nick and popped the back of his head. “What are ya thinking, you idiot?
Let me handle this.” He moved toward the head of Janus's security, his hands on his
hips as they talked.
Nick held his breath, straining to hear across the tarmac, but the sounds of base
life ruined his chances. He took a step, but Micah and Colt stepped in front of him
again. “Cool it. It's under control.” Nick refused to meet Micah's eyes, knowing
the concern and caution he would find there. He didn't want to be the controlled
man. Irrational, in love, terrified, and pumped full of adrenaline with no direction
all defined him right now. He'd temporarily deleted
calm
from his vocabulary.
But he knew if he were to get anything accomplished, he would have to remember to
stuff his emotions and call on his training to do what was necessary, even when his
world crashed around him.
X motioned them forward to join the party. “Carmichael, they are having trouble with
the preflight check. They are giving you ten minutes with her in the hangar. But
I don't trust you or Bulldog alone with her. Colt and I will stay in the room. You
keep your hands to yourself, you understand me?” He pointed a finger in Nick's face.
Nick choked down his anger at feeling like a child under the administration of a
disapproving parent.
“Got it.”
“Great, now that we've got that out of the way, let's go find your girl.”
X led the four of them into the hangar where Janus's security detail stood waiting
for them. At a nod from X, they moved a few feet away and began to whisper.
Nick clenched his fist and furiously chewed his gum, trying to find the inward calm
he usually achieved in the heat of a mission. Somehow, making it personal stripped
any semblance of normalcy.
Janus smirked. “Come to gloat?”
“No. There's no point.”
She flexed her hands, the handcuffs rattling. “These aren't the prettiest bracelets
I've ever worn, but far from the worst.” Her smirk went slack, and a deadly cold
filled her face. “Even in custody, American hospitality is better than anything
under the Iron Curtain.”
He didn't have time for her mind games. He took a measured step. “Where's Kaylan?”
A wicked smile blossomed on her face, and he forced himself to stay put. “When they
didn't hear from me, they took her.”
“Who's âthey'?”
“Men you never want to meet. They live for money, and they are very good at what
they do. You will not find her unless I give the word.”
Nick advanced a step, Micah tensing at his side. He held his phone out for her to
take. “Then give the word.”
She held her hands out in front of her face, checking her now cracked nail polish.
“And why should I?”
“Because it might make things a lot easier for you.”
“
Might
is not a promise I am willing to cash in on. I speak in currency. And in
comfort.”
“Two things I can promise you will never see again if you don't help me.”
“Again, you haven't given me a reason to.”
“What do you want?” Nick shouted. Micah took a step closer to him.
A wicked grin spread across Janus's face. “I want to tell you a story.”
“We don't have time for that.”
“Oh, I think you will make time for this one,” she snapped. “About twenty-eight years
ago a young Stasi officer received an assignment to make contact with American military
personnel in strategic locations on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Sometimes
she posed as a young student, other times she just slipped past the guards. Quite
an accomplishment, I might add. She met a young man in the United States Air Force.
He was young and handsome enough. Full of life and naivety. The perfect candidate.”
“Does this story have a point?” Micah gritted through clenched teeth.
Her cold blues eyes fastened on him. “In fact it does. And that point is standing
next to you.”
A roar filled Nick's ears as her gaze shifted to him. Her eyes, icy blue. Lifeless.
And entertained. He felt sick.
“And how am I the point? I need to know where my girlfriend is. Now.”
Janus seemed to tire of the charade. The smirk dropped from her voice, and the ice
in her eyes laced her voice. “I left you wrapped in a blue blanket with a brown rabbit
for the Americans to find. Your name is Nikolai Sebastian.” She shrugged. “I am not
the motherly type. It was even worse when I found out I was having twins. I got rid
of you as soon as I could. Now do you really want to turn me over to your government?”
Nick smirked. “You have really done your homework. I'm impressed.”
“Man, I said she was crazy.” Micah shook his head.
“In my business that is possible, but it is more than likely that
I know what I am
talking about. I never had to research you, Nikolai.”
Nick's head spun. Mother. Janus was claiming to be his mother. It seemed impossible.
He didn't have time to think about it now.
“You're lying.”
“Now is that any way to talk to your mother?” She took a step closer and spoke in
Russian. “I know you understand me. I know your name. I know who you are. And I know
where your sister, Natalia, is. I can make life very difficult for her as well.”
Nick responded in English, fighting the fear that clawed its way through his entire
body, threatening to paralyze him. “If you have a motherly bone in your body, you
will tell me where Kaylan is.”
“Do you not realize I never had that trait? I gave you up when you were only days
old and never looked back.” She grinned. “Kaylan and her annoying friend will be
put to good use. She will make many men happy. Cheer up, my son. You will find someone
else to warm your bed.”
Nick snapped. He lunged forward, his fists raised, but X yanked him back. Colt struggled
to restrain Micah on his left. “You sold her into the sex trade? Tell me where my
fiancée is!”
“Temper, temper. I am sure she is awaiting transfer at this very moment. You should
have left well enough alone.”
Nick took a deep breath and tugged free of X's grip. He straightened his shirt and
imagined himself under a hide on one of his missions, his finger massaging the trigger
as he scanned the area through his scope. Another deep breath. His senses honed in.
A plane taxied down the runway. A gnat buzzed near his ear. His knuckles ached from
his wadded fists. The gum in his mouth sent bursts of flavor down his throat with
every movement of his jaw. He could smell gasoline and exhaust and the faint scent
of body odor mixed with liquor. His heart rate settled.
Janus studied him, her blue eyes growing wary. “You could have done better, you know.
Kaylan is just one of many.”
Nick blew a bubble with his gum, ignoring her jab. It popped and he chewed some more,
folding his arms over his chest. “Here's how this is going to go.” His voice adopted
a deadly calm, back in control and back in his element. The predator instead of the
prey. Micah settled next to him, his posture relaxed but his hands balled into fists.
“I'm going to ask you one more time for any shred of information. You then are going
to tell me something. The more you share, the more I will work with these guysӉhe
nodded to the security that had come nearer during his episodeâ“to negotiate a deal.
Your help in exchange for a more comfortable prison sentence.”
He took a step closer, towering over her, his shadow a giant on the wall behind her.
His teammates flinched but held back. “But if you don't, I'll make sure your life
is a living hell, and every man in Gitmo that you ever cheated in business will know
exactly who you are and what cell you cower in. Got it?”
“You have searched for me long and hard.” Her smug smile made his blood boil. “I
have watched you with those you care about. Your threats are empty. You wouldn't
do that to your mother.”
Nick finally fully appreciated the home he'd grown up in, the love of a woman who
hadn't shared his blood but had spent nights awake when he was sick, hours at the
hospital after every major accident, and made dozens of cookies for every kid in
the neighborhood. “My mother died. I only see a woman who will die alone.”
If her eyes could freeze him in place, he would have been a block of ice. But Nick
noticed that her hands began to shake.
“I can give you a name.” Her nose remained tipped firmly upward, but there was a
slight crack in her voice.
“You'll give me more than that.”