“Since we met I’ve been nothing but trouble for you. You’ve risked your life too many times to save mine and I can’t let you do it again,” Mena said, then paused, fighting back tears as her hand trembled in his. “Remember when I stood on the deck of your boat in the middle of the Caribbean screaming at the top of my lungs how much I love you?”
“I can’t lose you, not like this,” Julian said. “Do not give up! Do you hear me? I can get us out of this, I promise!”
Mena shook her head, “That’s how I want you to remember me. To remember us. Just remember that one perfect night on your boat in the middle of Crescent Moon Bay. Just me and you, perfect with our perfect love.”
“Mena, I can’t do what you’re asking me,” Julian said, his voice fraught with emotion, his eyes pleading.
“You need to let me do this for you this time. Nobody is after you, but for some reason I keep getting into these awful situations. It stops now. Knowing you are safe is all that matters. Please tell my mom and dad, my brothers, Omar and Regina, all of them, that I love them so much,” Mena said. A tear rolled slowly down her face.
Yanking her arm from his grasp, Mena pushed past him and walked over to the men huddled with guns pointing at them.
“I will go with you of my own free will, but you need to let Julian go. Let him live … please,” Mena said. “Tie him up or something so he won’t come after us, but don’t kill him. That’s all I ask. Please.”
“I knew a woman once who loved fiercely, dangerously, recklessly … like you,” Tubeec said. He walked toward her and caressed her face. “She didn’t hesitate to risk her own life to save those she loved. It is an admirable trait.”
Heart pounding, Mena focused on the gunmen in her periphery, their rifles trained on Julian. Even if he was quick enough to get a couple of shots off, he wouldn’t be able to kill them all. He would die in a blaze of bullets in the middle of the desert for her. She would not let that happen.
“Do we have a deal?” Mena asked, infusing confidence in her voice. She knew Tubeec wanted her alive. If she could save Julian now, there could be a chance that maybe she could be with him again.
Tubeec smiled at her, then looped his arm in hers, walking her away from the vehicle. “Handcuff the man to the TIGR, but do not harm him.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Shifting against the sand, Julian rolled over, beneath the cover of the Jeep. Pain detonated throughout his body, but he needed to get out of the harsh rays of the sun if he had any chance to survive. For minutes that felt like hours, his body had been a human pinata, absorbing the blows of Tubeec’s thugs, pummeling him to the ground. When he’d been unable to fight back any longer, they’d handcuffed him to the axel of the Jeep.
Julian thought they were going to turn the ignition on the bullet-ridden vehicle and drag him a few miles across the red desert land. Lucky for him, the bastards had been summoned by Tubeec to return to El Wak.
Inhaling, Julian felt a sharp pain slice through his lungs. He could have a broken rib, maybe two. Something he could deal with … after he’d hunted Tubeec down and killed him for taking Mena hostage.
The ground rumbled under his body as a vehicle approached. Julian cowered under the Jeep, peering out into the distance. He couldn’t be sure if that was help arriving, a good Samaritan, or someone sent by Tubeec or al-Harakat to kill him. One thing he knew for sure, they were military-grade vehicles.
A man squatted low, his eyes resting on Julian.
“Thought you were dead,” Reggie said.
“Don’t look so disappointed,” Julian responded, from the shadows of the TIGR. “Can you get these off me?”
“What happened out here?” Reggie asked, working a small knife blade back and forth against the cuffs until Julian heard the familiar click.
Yanking his hands down, Julian massaged his swollen wrists, then inched his body from under the Jeep.
Reggie reached a hand down to help him up.
“Al-Harakat had Mena and they were taking her to Tubeec to exchange for the bounty money, but Enzo, Taye, and I got to her first,” Julian explained. “Taye took Enzo to the hospital. He was shot up pretty bad and I stayed behind with Mena … until Tubeec arrived.”
“He took Mena?” Reggie asked.
“She agreed to go with him if he spared my life,” Julian said, frowning. “For some reason the son of a bitch did, but his guys gave me a good beating before they took off. They’re headed to El Wak.”
“My team was en route to the airstrip in El Wak, but our planes were downed by anti-aircraft missiles shot from Somalia. My bet is Tubeec called in some favors to buy more time. We have an outpost near here and we were able to scramble and get a ground team together to continue our search for him,” Reggie explained.
“Any idea why he wants Mena? Why is she so valuable to him?” Julian asked, taking a sip from the canteen one of the ASF agents gave him.
“Ask Sunny,” Reggie said, his shoulders slumping. “She was paid to kidnap Mena. I thought I knew her so well, better than anyone, but this blindsided me. We have evidence that a hundred thousand dollars was wired into her account from a Swiss account linked to Tubeec Hirad.”
“The money wasn’t sent to Sunny, it was sent to Hakeem,” Julian said, then relayed his conversation with Hakeem to Reggie and the secret that Sunny had shared with him a day ago about her sibling.
“Hakeem is her brother,” Reggie repeated. “Why am I not surprised she shared her secret with you and not me.”
