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Aleksei fumedas he sat in one of the conference room chairs, the agonizing weight of his sister’s and mother’s lives hanging on him, bearing him down. He didn’t regret defecting or helping the Americans. His sympathy was fully with them. His government was a corrupt machine, and nothing would ever change until they wanted it to change. He didn’t believe that was possible.
Harley added another dimension. Until Isabelle pointed out all the obstacles, he was hellbent on getting the woman into his life, but there wasn’t much of a life he had to offer her. That was now abundantly clear.
Kat sidled over and settled in the chair next to him. They were currently the only people in the room. “Harley is worth all the trouble,” she said.
He came upright and studied the attractive redhead. “How do you know what’s going on between us?”
She scoffed and crossed her long legs. “I’m a spy, Aleksei. I read people for a living. Other than your intense worry about your family, and your total dedication to bringing Leonid, his daughter, and the Z Militia to justice, Harley is very much on your mind.”
He closed his eyes. “She burns me like the sun,” he whispered.
She nodded. “I know that feeling. I had a very difficult courtship of sorts with my husband. He’s a Navy SEAL which is a challenge in itself. They’re gone so often, and my work took me everywhere until I left the field. I’m only here temporarily to hunt down the people responsible for the Ogdens’ deaths.”
“So, you have some advice for me?”
“Some friendly advice.” She smiled softly. “Don’t let people distract you from what you want or from what Harley wants. This is about you. Not about what you do or don’t do for a job. I’m not saying true love isn’t rocky. It certainly was in my case. You see, my husband is my deceased fiancé’s brother.”
The door opened on that tidbit, and she smiled, rose and patted his shoulder. Isabelle breezed through with Harley. It was clear they hadn’t made up, but it was also clear Isabelle had news. She came up to Aleksei. “Your mom and sister are safe and on their way out of Moscow. We’ve made arrangements to deposit them on your yacht. Gator and three of the CIA operatives will stay with them.”
Relief and joy coursed through him. But then Isabelle bit her lip.
“Something went wrong?” he asked. “Are they hurt?”
“No. They’re fine. Blitz and Bree are missing. We haven’t heard anything from them in hours.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Isabelle.”
“Thank you, but Blitz is a seasoned SEAL and Bree has been exemplary in everything she’s done. They're both resourceful. I’m sure they had their reasons.” She touched his arm. “Now that the main mission is over. Head back to your hotel and get your stuff together. Your flight is leaving for you to go back to Moscow tomorrow afternoon. But we’re not going to wait for that. We’ll have a chopper pick you up in an hour. That work?”
“Yes. Thank you, Isabelle. I couldn’t have done this without you. You have been such a good friend to me.” Harley notwithstanding, and Isabelle’s overly heavy hand in making sure they were aware of the consequences of their actions, she hadn’t let him down. His family was safe.
“Harley?”
“Yes?”
“You’ll go with him.”
She nodded and turned toward the door. It was going to be a long, very long hour.
* * *
Buck stepped off the elevator,leaving a very sated and satisfied woman in her room. Most of the conference attendees had already left. He headed toward the bar, thinking he could get in one more drink with his brothers. As he reached the lobby, he hesitated. There were several men there, one was at the desk and the hotel employee was nervous, her face drained of all color.
The hair on the back of his neck bristled as he noticed security was absent. The guy at the desk turned to look at him and Buck saw a weapon and reached for his, shouting, “Gun!”
The man fired at him, and Buck dove, hitting the floor hard and sliding behind a half wall. He popped up and fired, clipping one in the thigh. In his line of vision, he saw his teammates lined up behind the cover of the wall. Joker nodded to him, crouched, and slid an automatic weapon across to him. He holstered his sidearm and scooped up the weapon. More men came into the lobby, dressed all in black. These weren’t AAL. They were professionals.
They sprayed the lobby and his hiding place with a shower of bullets, but he watched through a hole as a woman and a man ran across the lobby and disappeared into the hallway where the elevators were located.
He turned to look at his LT. “Joker! That was Anya and Achebe. They’re going after Alek and Harley!”
* * *
In the room,Harley steered clear of Aleksei as she sat in a chair waiting for him to get his belongings, then they were heading to the roof. It wasn’t like they didn’t have a ton to talk about but now was not the time. They had to get him out of Niger. Once he was safe, she’d address their last argument, but to tell the truth, she was a jumbled-up mess right now.
She had no idea how he really felt about her, and he’d dropped that timebomb. It seemed to detonate every few minutes or so.
Harley stiffened. She could hear the blades of a chopper. She looked at her watch. It was way too early. She sprang from the chair and brushed back the drapes. A gray helicopter lowered to her eye level.
