“It looks beautiful. Makes me want to wait for him to wake up.”
“Lily!” She reached out and jerked her friend’s arm away. “That’s it. We’re leaving now.”
“What about the test and all that stuff you were talking about?”
“Oh.” Amber had forgotten the reason why they were there. They had wanted to make sure the new operative was good. She worked her hand free from the man’s tight grasp. “Okay, let’s tuck the note where he can see it without too much difficulty.”
“Where? The man is naked, for God’s sake. You wanted to piss him off, you said. Well, he’s going to be when he wakes up half frozen.”
Yeah. She had wanted to piss off Jed’s man to test him. She smiled in the dark. There was definitely a way to do that. “Go get the blanket. We don’t want him to catch a cold. I’ll make sure he gets the note.”
While Llallana went off to the bed in the corner, Amber took out the note in her side pocket. She checked another pocket, where she had a few loose things that were useful to open locks, and grinned triumphantly when she found what she was looking for—a long piece of string. Quickly, she poked a hole in the note and pulled the string through. She thought for a moment, then took out a pen and scrawled quickly before reaching out into the darkness.
“Now what are you doing?”
“Tying the note around his wrist. There. Got the blanket?”
“Yes, here.”
Amber tucked the thick feathered blanket over the sleeping man. “There. Let’s go.”
They switched on their nylon lines from their belts. One wonderful thing about hundred-year-old buildings converted for modern living—they still had high ceilings with walk-ways and turrets. It took a few minutes before they reached the small ventilation hole where they had crawled in. Their winter jackets were on the other side, fifteen minutes away. It would have been difficult to maneuver around with heavy garments on.
Llallana climbed in first, then turned abruptly. She turned on the flashlight again, almost blinding Amber. “You didn’t tie it around his wrist, did you?”
Amber never underestimated her friend. She kept her face expressionless. “Of course I did. Where else would I tie the note?”
Hawk didn’t open his eyes immediately. He strived to keep his breathing even, as if he were still out. He could feel some kind of cover over his face; moving his fingers slowly, he felt around him. Hard surface—on a floor? He was surrounded by some thick material—did they stick him in a sack?
He finally opened his eyes. It was pitch-black. He mentally checked his body—no pain anywhere, just a slight soreness around the right thigh. He remembered the kick. His heart wasn’t racing anymore. The drug must have been some kind of sleeping agent; he didn’t remember any hallucinatory dreams. There was a slight crick in his neck from lying on a hard surface, but other than that, he appeared to be fine.
So, where had his assailant taken him? It couldn’t be too far; Dragan Dilaver’s building was very heavily guarded. Recalling the attacker’s small build, Hawk doubted his ability to carry him out of a room, down several flights of stairs, through the huge foyer, and outside into the snowy open without a single soul seeing him. So that left only one simple conclusion—he was still in his own room, on the floor where he had been drugged.
Hawk lifted one hand and very slowly pulled at the material on him. He frowned, clutching the soft thickness several times. It felt like—his blanket. He drew his arm out from under it and encountered a lighter layer of cloth. This must be the one covering his face; the feathered blanket could have smothered him while he was out. What did you know, a thoughtful captor.
Part of him was pissed at the fact that he had been captured so easily. He couldn’t afford to let down his guard ever, and here he was, lying naked without any weapons, taken by surprise, and seemingly left—he cocked his head, listening—unguarded. Slowly, he inched the cloth down from his face.
Emerging from his warm cocoon, the air felt cold against his face. Hewasstill in his room. His instincts told him that he was all alone, but caution told him to not move, just in case someone had a sick sense of humor and had wired a bomb nearby.
Hawk’s mind went over the events that he could remember. The attack had happened here, at the most open of the Dilaver holdings. Whoever his assailant was, he was cocky enough to do it, and was very sure of not being caught. And he was skilled in martial arts, so not just some dumb thief. He had deliberately attacked Hawk, so there was a message here somewhere. Conclusion: Explosives unlikely. Besides, why bother with the blankets if he had just wanted Hawk to die?
He was a SEAL. He sure wasn’t going to lie here and call for help so Dilaver’s men could come up to check around his naked body. Fuck that.
He rose up, letting the thick protective blanket fall away. It was still dark, so he couldn’t have been out more than an hour or two. The first thing to do was to turn on the light to see exactly what the dark stranger had left behind.
Turning on the bedside lamp, he squinted and adjusted to the sudden glare. Except for the blanket and spread on the floor, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. There was no sign of their fight at all. No hypodermic needle, nothing broken, not even a telltale shoe print. His attacker had been exceptionally careful not to leave any souvenirs for him to find.
Hawk started to head back to pick up the blanket. Something lightly scratched his thigh. He looked down. He softly cursed. Souvenir found.
Amber didn’t look up from her task when she heard Llallana coming into the kitchen. She arranged the freshly baked cookies in the jar, popping one into her mouth. There was always a lot to do for the café, and her customers, both Americans—mostly peacekeepers these days—and locals, seemed to love her cookies the best.
Llallana, as was her custom, poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down in her chair by the window. Her visits seemed to be less and less frequent these days, and Amber was beginning to worry about her friend. She knew how hard Llallana’s job was to one’s psyche, and wished she could offer more help, but in their business, each had to worry about her own assignment.
“You still won’t admit it,” Llallana finally began, voice filled with amusement.
“Nope,” Amber said, calmly closing the lid to the jar and reaching for another one. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“You touched a man’s erection and won’t even tell your best friend.”
