It hadn’t been like that with Damian. He’d been killed by a drunk driver in a senseless motor vehicle accident. NATO Intelligence had quietly collected the body, returned it to Greece, and seen him interred there. There was no funeral, no celebration of his life, not even any acknowledgment he had lived… or died. By the time Zara had learned what happened, it had been too late to do anything. She was left to mourn his passing and live with the almost overwhelming grief on her own. Not one of his colleagues had ever reached out to her. The only one who had been there for her had been Finn.
As much as she’d loved Damian, Zara had determined she would never allow herself the luxury of falling for a man again, even though she knew that was not what he would have wanted. They’d talked once or twice about what might happen should he ever fall in the line of duty. He had been adamant she should carry on without him. He wanted her to find someone else to care for her and keep her safe. When she had informed him, she was quite capable of doing that on her own, he had laughed, kissed her, and swatted her ass, telling her she needed a keeper. He also told her if she didn’t find someone on her own, he would intervene from the other side and find someone for her.
Zara got out of the shower, dried herself, and put her hair on top of her head. She slathered moisturizer over her face and lotion all over her body. Donning a pair of sweatpants and a sports bra, she trotted up to her office, where she started up her desktop system and downloaded all her files from the night before. She began phoning contacts and researching news stories, not the headlines but small threads of information she could follow to bigger, untold stories.
If Fariq’s organization had been taken over by Springer or was under attack, it was not common knowledge. Hoping to find something she and Finn could hang their hat on, so to speak, Zara called Edmond LaCroix of Paris’ Sûreté.
“Zara! How are you?”
“Confused, Edmond. I’ve heard a disturbing rumor regarding Fariq Abdal and his organization… and you haven’t called to share.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Come on, Edmond, you know I can’t divulge that information. I understand one of his lieutenants, Gerold Springer, is behind it and was operating very briefly from a safehouse outside of Paris.”
“Just a moment,” Edmond said. Zara could hear him rapidly walking across a floor before she heard a door close. “Zara, I’m not sure how you came across this, but you’d best let it be. Fariq was dangerous enough, but at least he operated by a code of honor. Springer is a nationalist thug, as was his brother.”
Ignoring his advice, she continued. “Yes, my sources say Fariq killed Timon, Gerold’s brother when he got greedy and tried to get information the Springer brothers could use to hurt Fariq. There was a hostage exchange that went down badly in Las Vegas. Gerold took Finlay Reid and got the hell out of Dodge, as they say in the States.”
“Is Finn your source?”
“Edmond, you know better. I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
“If she is, we’d like to talk with her. We found a group of dead bodies in a farmhouse just outside of Paris. We know both Springer and Finn were in the area. We’ve been looking for her. Do you know where she is? She could be in grave danger.”
“I think she’s safe enough.”
“That is not for you to decide, Zara. You and Finn have been known to be fairly reckless with your own safety. In a war zone, when you’re only endangering yourselves, that’s one thing. When we have bodies piling up around Paris, it’s another thing altogether.”
“What if I could arrange for you to speak with her over the phone?”
“Zara, you’re not listening. You and Finn and anyone else who knows what’s going on are in real danger. This is much bigger than just Fariq being pushed out.”
“How much bigger?”
“Bigger. You need to let this go. If Finn is truly safe, you should join her. London is not safe for you. You need to go into hiding until all of this blows over.”
“Why? If something’s gone down in France, why do I need to be worried holed up here in merry ole England?”
The lights flickered before her call was interrupted and cut off. She pulled up the security feed of her home on her computer. Shit! There were armed men coming through her back door in the kitchen from the garden. She closed the door to her office space and wedged her chair underneath the handle to make it more difficult for whoever the armed intruders were to get to her. Stuffing her cell phone down her bra, Zara went into the half bath, closed and locked the door, then opened the transom window above the toilet, preparing to escape onto the relatively flat roof to what she hoped was safety.
Noah had seen the lights flicker from his vantage point. Prior to leaving the night before, he’d had Thom help him hack her security system to take advantage of the hidden cameras keeping watch over her home. When he’d headed over this morning, he’d brought a device that allowed someone to be able to monitor calls from a cell phone. He’d heard the interference on her phone just as it disconnected. He knew from talking with Thom, the only thing that could have caused the glitch in her electrical and the loss of her call was an interruption to her system that would keep her from calling 9-9-9, the UK’s emergency response system. Whatever was jamming her phone was also preventing him from using his.
Noah’s look around her home the previous night had revealed the only possible way to get to her now was up and over the roof, slipping through the small window in the half bath on the third floor. His hiding spot gave him good access to the row of rooftops that lined her street. He lowered himself to the roof, drew his SIG, and ran towards Zara’s home. He was preparing to kick in the window when he watched it open and positioned himself where he couldn’t be seen. As two very feminine hands appeared, he holstered his weapon and quickly dragged her through the window, clasping his hand over mouth to keep her quiet.
“I’m Noah Taylor with the Wild Mustang Security Firm. I’m a friend of Finn’s. We need to get you out of here.”
She looked frightened but nodded to indicate she heard and understood him. He removed the hand keeping her silent and slid the other down her arm to grasp her hand, then led her back the way he’d come. If their luck held for a few minutes, they’d be out of sight before the intruders discovered Zara had escaped.
They raced back the way Noah had come and dropped off the building close to where he’d left the rented Range Rover. Helping her down, he had to admit, she was handling this much better than most people would have. He dragged her along behind him, keeping her low and using the other parked vehicles to keep their escape concealed. When they reached the vehicle, he opened the door, shoved her inside, and closed it. Running around the back of the vehicle, he slipped into the driver’s side behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb.
Chapter 3
For once, Noah was appreciative of London’s notoriously heavy traffic. He turned on his police scanner but wasn’t surprised when there was no report of any incident at Zara’s home. He glanced at her and noticed the outline of her cell phone lodged under her shirt, being held in place by her lingerie. Without asking, he reached down her shirt, into her bra, and snatched it from her, tossing it out the window.