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“Yes, sir,” the guard finally answered, throwing Noah a sympathetic look. He could see the wheels turning in the guard’s head as if he was trying to think of a way out of this.
The prime minister turned and walked out of the room. Noah looked at him as he stood there, his gaze going back to the president. He swallowed hard, then said, “I’m no murderer, and I’m not killing a woman and her baby in cold blood.” He took a hard breath. “Come with me,” he said.
They went through a connecting door into what looked like living quarters. The first lady, her face ashen, appeared in the doorway. She must have heard the shot.
“There’s no time to explain,” the guard said. “Your husband has been assassinated, and you and your child are in terrible danger. We must get out of the palace and away from here as quickly as we can.”
Without another word, Fabrice Baptiste ran for her son.
13
The sound of the shower woke Maddy. She blinked her gritty eyes open, the result of too little sleep, and her tears and turmoil over not being able to help Fabrice. Shortly after they’d retired upstairs, they could hear her dad and mom going at it on the other side of the house. When Maddy had insisted on talking to them, Shark was reluctant to intervene in the ambassador’s business, Maddy had gotten even more upset about everything. She’d told him that she was going to talk to her parents, expanding the rift between them when she’d been adamant about helping Fabrice, and he shut her down, trampling all over her feelings and outrage that her friend was going to be left out to dry.
Exercising her newfound sense of commitment to what was going on around her, she’d told her dad she wanted to go to the palace and warn Fabrice. She argued that it wouldn’t take that long, and Shark could go with her. She’d be in and out.
She was aware there was danger, but there was a baby in the mix, along with a defenseless woman who could be used as a pawn in the prime minister’s plan to take power for himself. It seemed so wrong to her. But the conversation hadn’t gone the way she’d hoped it would. Her dad had gotten steadily more agitated, fear for his family utmost in his mind. He had told her mom that she was leaving in the morning. When Maddy had interfered and sided with her mom about not wanting to leave him behind, he had gone all head of the mission on them, ordering his mom to pack. She was leaving on the first plane out of Haiti. He then told Maddy she was going to change her plane ticket to Santo Domingo to tomorrow, leaving early for her conference. He wasn’t taking any chances with her. She was leaving as soon as possible.
He’d railed at her about his responsibilities to the people who would feel the brunt of any kind of coup the prime minister was planning, and with the Marine missing, he had pressing matters to attend to and couldn’t in all good conscience focus on his job when his family was in peril. She understood her father’s obligations to his staff. She couldn’t refute his decisions and maybe that was why it hurt so much.
Feeling totally unprepared for all of this, Maddy rubbed her face, unease spreading through her. She thought she had more time and the uncertainty between her, and Shark was tying her gut up in knots.
This man meant a lot to her and the rush of panic at the thought of it all fizzling out pushed her out of twisted and crumpled bedding. She looked toward the window, the sky turbulent with heavy clouds, the first rays of dawn burnishing their undersides with a vibrancy of color. Her eyes scratchy and her head throbbing, she turned toward the door when it opened, steam escaping.
He looked so damn good, and she wanted that easiness between them, the intimacy, but before she could broach the subject of what was going to happen between them, he said, frowning, “You should be packing.”
His words stung like he was in a hurry to get rid of her, his burden lifted so he could, like her father, focus on other matters of urgency, like evacuating an embassy full of vulnerable people. She stiffened, feeling trapped in all these feelings overwhelming her. She wasn’t used to this kind of drama in her life, at least, not something that was self-generated. She was still navigating how to react in a significant way toward a man she was falling in love with, instead of reacting like an immature, terrified idiot.
He towel-dried his hair, not a trace of expression on his face. Resting his hand on his hip, he stared at her, his eyes reminding her of an eagle’s eyes—predatory and unblinking—and unfeeling, so unfeeling. He was in total SEAL mode, just like her dad was in total ambassador mode. Shark didn’t say anything for a moment, then he said bluntly. “I’m going to get dressed, and when I come back here, you’d better be packing. Did you call the airline yet?”
His high-handed comments set her off, and she folded her arms across her chest, but his alpha male attitude didn’t falter for a moment. He turned toward her. “Maddy…”
“No,” she snapped. “I haven’t called the airline yet. It’s barely five a.m.” She marched over to her suitcase and struggled with getting it on the bed. He leaned in to help, and she angrily shouldered him out of the way, finishing the job herself.
He sighed. “Don’t drag your feet,” he interjected flatly. He stared at her for a second longer, his expression fixed, then strode out of the room. Paralyzed by the sickening sensation sweeping through her, she stared at the closed door he’d managed not to slam shut, her heart pounding with unhappiness.
Making a frustrated noise between clenched teeth, she marched into the bathroom and started her shower. Afterward, she got dressed, then angrily cleared off the shelf of her toiletries, sliding them all haphazardly into her travel bag. Once out of the bathroom, she started to place all her clothes in her suitcases, then zipped them closed.
Filled with misgivings and sheer, complete rebelliousness, she grabbed her cell phone, an unnerving rush hitting her—a rush that was closely related to panic. When she made the call to the airline, she would effectively be separating herself from Shark and her beloved father. As full-blown fear surged through her at the thought of leaving either one of them behind, or his amazing teammates, she gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and sent the call through. The decision was out of her hands, and God, she hated that.
After they accommodated her changes to an early evening departure, Maddy stuffed her research and laptop into her carry-on bag, at least mollified that her research was sufficient to put the finishing touches on her paper and poster for the conference, she marched over to the bed and dragged her suitcases off, set her travel bag on top and rolled the bags toward the door.
It opened before she got there, but she didn’t even acknowledge Shark, just breezed past him, heading for the stairs.
He chased after her and tried to take the bags from her, but she resisted and clumsily dragged them down the stairs. Her mom emerged from the master suite with the same unhappy and angry face as her daughter. She was also dragging her own luggage as her dad trailed behind. He said, “Katie,” in that tone that usually softened her mom, but she ignored him and joined her daughter on the trek to the bottom.
Maddy stopped dead after she saw that her equipment had been retrieved, boxed up, and was ready to mail back to her lab at Old Dominion. So, the team had been busy in the wee hours of the morning. She was relieved that the expensive instruments weren’t left behind and grateful for their thoughtfulness.
She left everything but her phone in the foyer, ready to be loaded into their SUV, while Twister took her mom’s luggage and headed toward the garage. Her plane was set to leave in about two hours.
Esther was just finishing up breakfast, and she gave both her mom and Maddy tight, hard hugs goodbye. She then busied herself at the counter filling her plate, the silence between them thick with undercurrents.
Her pulse leapt into overdrive when Shark came over to the counter and got himself a cup of coffee. He was so close that she could smell the soap on his skin, and she closed her eyes, the surge of awareness nearly overwhelming her. Damn, but he was big. And male.
She took her breakfast to the table, seating herself between her parents, certain she wasn’t going to be able to swallow a bite. But she was halfway through her omelet when Shark sat down across from her, and the team joined them.
Her father cleared his throat. “Shark and Twister, I would appreciate it if you would take my wife to the airport.” He turned to Maddy, his features softening. “You’ll go with them and get your equipment mailed back.” He looked at her, his gaze shuttered. “Did you get a flight out to Santo Domingo?”
Forcing herself to disconnect from the feelings warring inside her, Maddy took a deep, steadying breath. She wasn’t sure whether she could get through this without coming undone altogether. “Yes,” Maddy said, her voice subdued. She couldn’t go against her dad in front of the SEALs. That would embarrass him, and she couldn’t bring herself to disappoint him. In the end, he was doing what he thought was best for his family and his staff, and despite the anger and fear, she felt warmed all the way to her heart.
