AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pam had treated him as if he was impervious to physical and mental pain. She’d never expressed concern for him, even when he came back from the mission that had injured Xavier and killed two others.
It was around that time she’d taken up with one of his former teammates. She was unwilling to be emotionally available for Chris, and so Chris had reacted in kind and cut himself off from her. He’d spent the last eleven months trying to understand what had happened in his marriage so he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.
And now here was this woman, more worried about him than she was about herself when she was being hunted by terrorists.
His eyes burned.
He moved the cursor below her paragraph and replied.
Oh babe, your safety is the most important thing. I’m glad you did what you had to do. I’m probably still a little woozy—don’t tell Rand since I insisted on driving—but otherwise fine. We think we know how they found us. My fault.
He paused as he typed. Everything that had happened was his fault. The minute he read the texts that clearly were not from Rand, he should have ditched the phone. It hadn’t crossed his mind that Albrecht was the kind of guy who would memorize a cell phone number so he could provide it to terrorists hunting a SEAL teammate.
I’m so sorry, babe. I should have known. I
The cursor flashed next to the I. He couldn’t drop those words here, in a message Freya would probably read.
want to hold you. Tell you how sorry I am.
Tell you how I feel.
He changed the subject line to Diana and closed the message.
“What’s the plan for getting Diana here?” he asked Freya.
“We aren’t. Not yet. I’ve got her a hotel room not far from the city. She’s going to lie low. Maybe tomorrow, she’ll talk to the FBI agent investigating the bombing. It depends on what we learn from Albrecht.”
“I’ll go to her after we talk to Albrecht.”
Freya’s eyes flashed with some kind of emotion. It surprised him, because her cold mask never slipped, but he almost thought it was regret. “No.”
“No?”
“Diana doesn’t want you with her.”
He wanted to reach for the laptop, read the draft message again, but he knew what it said. She’d apologized. That was all. “Explain.”
“I’m not in the habit of passing notes in English class. If she wants you to know more, she can tell you herself.” She opened her own laptop. “Now, let me get you up to speed before you talk to Albrecht. First, you should know, I don’t think the Gardners want to kill Diana.”
“Right. Blowing up a house she’s supposed to be inside is a sure sign they just want to talk.”
“We have proof that it was Jamal.”
“Who was working for the same people Albrecht is. Jamal is a kid. He’s not the mastermind.”
“I agree. Rafiq is the mastermind, but—”
Rand jumped in. “You’ve confirmed we’re dealing with Rafiq?”
Freya nodded. “We finally got intel on Harun Taha. He and Rafiq worked together for three years before the Syrian Civil War started. Also, we’ve confirmed Rafiq is alive and in the US.”
That triggered a jolt. “Here? How?”
“Why take that risk?” Rand asked at the same time.
“It’s hardly a risk when the Intelligence Community doubled down on declaring him dead.” She faced Chris. “Rafiq has been on my radar since I was in the Special Activities Division. I’m neither CIA analyst nor SAD operative now, but I know his modus operandi. Rafiq wouldn’t be here if he just wanted Diana dead. Easy enough to let the Gardners take care of that. No. He wants something from her. I’m sure Jamal’s role was to torment her—after she spotted him at the hospital, everything she’d said was questioned. Even better to send him here. Let her get glimpses of him on the Metro. She’s too afraid to tell anyone. Even me.”
Chris’s heart ached at that, remembering the first night they were together, and how she’d reacted to his questioning her story of seeing Rafiq. She must have been so terrified. And he’d been another person picking at her sanity, even though he hadn’t meant to.
