Page 87 of Her Fearless Warrior

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Linc spent a while just looking at Leila in the morning light. She truly was beautiful. Inside and out. She scared him, though. She wasn’t in the military, but she had the heart of a warrior, and was willing to do whatever was necessary to help save the world. He was going to do his best to not tell her what to do, but he was going to get very good at the art of debating.

He slid out of bed and put the covers back up around her. He needed coffee and to see what was going on before he took a shower. He threw on his camo pants and a t-shirt and went downstairs to see who was up.

Gideon was standing beside the coffeemaker with his mug under the spout.

“I think you’re supposed to put the carafe on the burner, not your mug.” Linc smiled as he grabbed a banana from out of the fruit bowl and enjoyed Gideon scowling at him. When Gideon’s mug was full, he made a quick switch with the carafe without wasting a drop of coffee. Then Linc watched as Gideon went to the freezer and pulled out an ice cube. He dropped it in his mug of coffee and eyed Linc.

“You weren’t kidding about those nightmares.”

“No. I wasn’t.”

“Has she been like that ever since Syria?”

Linc shook his head, chewing on his banana. He swallowed. “Maybe four or five since we’ve been sleeping together, but nothing like this. She remembered a lot of her nightmare last night. She told me about it. She was mixing up her dad getting shot with images of her time in Syria. She still hasn’t gone to counseling, but she promises to now.”

Gideon took a sip of his coffee and smiled. Linc threw away the banana peel, then poured himself a cup of coffee.

“A lot of information came in last night. The most notable is Leila’s friend, Shaker has a pretty well-connected wife. She’s Russian, and three of her brothers are in the Russian mob, and her father is retired Russian military. Before he retired, he oversaw the dismantling of Russian atomic weapons, in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines.”

“How come al-Assad isn’t using the wife to get his hands on things?” Linc asked. “She’s a ripe target.”

“She came over to Syria with her baby sister when she was eleven to live with relatives. I’m guessing that her mother probably saw how the brothers were turning out and wanted a better life for her daughters. So, she changed her name to El Din, and assimilated into Syrian society. Maybe a little too well, because now she, her children, and her husband are too high profile to leave without a big bankroll.”

“So, he’s our guy,” Linc said, drinking his coffee. “It is a nuclear weapon.”

“Actually, it’s two,” Gideon corrected.

“Even better,” Linc said sarcastically. He went over to the cupboard and got down another mug. He poured some coffee, creamer, and sugar into it. “Taking this up to Leila, and we’ll get this party started. But Caryn Hanover is out of the picture now, right?”

Gideon nodded. “Yep, she will not be any part of this.”

“Good.”

* * *

Linc set her mug of coffee on the nightstand, then kissed her forehead. “Time to get up,” he whispered in her ear.

“Don’t wanna.”

“I have coffee right here, doctored up the way you like it.” He picked up the mug and waved it next to her nose. He saw her grin. She pushed up on the bed and propped pillows behind herself so she could sit up more easily.

“What time is it?”

He looked at his watch. “Seven hundred hours.”

“You know you’re sexy when you do military speak, right?” she asked right before she took a sip of her coffee.

“I didn’t know, but glad to hear it.”

“I better get moving. Gideon might have some information.” She sounded like a kid on Christmas morning.

“He does.”

“What is it? Give me. Give me.”

“Shaker is probably the guy. His wife has ties to a retired Russian military officer who was in charge of dismantling nuclear weapons.”