Dangerously Hot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#4) (17 page)

She looked up when Kev spoke again. “Why don’t you have a seat with the luggage while I check us in, babe? It was a long trip, and I know you’d like to rest. In your condition and all.”

Lucky’s eyes widened. Flash leaned over Kev’s shoulder and grinned. “Congratulations, you two.”

Lucky shook her head at their antics as she plopped on a nearby bench. If Kev needed her for translation, he’d call her over. But in this hotel it was likely everyone spoke English. Kev and Flash were still grinning like crazy asses as she opened up a game on her phone and ignored them. About twenty minutes later Kev was back, an envelope in his hand.
 

“All set?” she asked.

“Yep.”

They dragged their luggage to the elevator and stepped inside. It took its sweet time getting started, but soon they were on the fifth floor and heading down the hallway toward their room. The hotel definitely wasn’t luxurious, but it had elements of faded Old World grandeur. The floors were tiled mosaic. Crystal light fixtures that had seen better days lit the hallway.

They reached a room at the end, and Kev slid the key in the card reader—at least they’d updated the locks—and threw the door open.

Lucky tried not to groan as she followed Kev inside. There was only one bed. It was not quite queen-sized, but the white linens were crisp and looked inviting. The walls were salmon colored, and the plaster was chipped away in places. But again there were hints of Old World elegance in the crystal chandelier and the antique carpets scattered over the floor.

Lucky pushed away thoughts of the bed and walked into the bathroom. It was large and had a sunken tub, a shower, and two sinks. The floor was tiled in mosaic and the wall over the sinks had a carved wooden mirror inset with mother-of-pearl around the ornate frame.
 

Lucky returned to the room. Kev was dragging in the last of the luggage, and she put her hands on her hips as she faced him. “What’s with that business about my condition?”

He looked grim as he shook his head and she clamped her lips shut. He picked up his carry-on and unzipped it. Then he pulled out some equipment. A few moments later, he was sweeping the room with what looked like a small handheld radio. Lucky sank onto the edge of the bed and waited.

He was completely focused on his task, so she used the time to study him. His hair was damp and sweat glistened on his arms. His shirt stuck to his skin in places, delineating all that smooth, hard muscle for her gaze. Geez, he was delicious. Even sweaty.
 

Especially sweaty. Lucky closed her eyes and swallowed at the unwelcome wetness between her legs.

Kev finished his sweep for bugs and deployed a small item that looked like a speaker, setting it on a shelf to face the room. Then he took out his phone and dialed.

“All clear,” he said when someone answered. “Yeah, copy.” A few seconds later he put the phone back in his pocket and looked at her. “You can speak freely. But always be careful. If it doesn’t need to be said, don’t say it. Got it?”

“I think so. What’s that thing?” she asked, tipping her head toward the speaker that wasn’t a speaker.

“Basically, it’s a white-noise generator. But much more effective than the sort of things you can buy from your local spy shop. If anyone’s trying to listen in to conversations in this room, they won’t get anything but white noise.”

“All right. Now care to tell me why I’m suddenly pregnant?”

He grinned. “You mean you don’t know? Do I need to demonstrate for you again, sugar?”

She rolled her eyes even while a sharp pain pierced her heart. He was just playing around, but she couldn’t help but think of them twined together again. “Stop it for two minutes, okay? I can’t keep up. Besides, that wasn’t part of the cover.”

He sobered. “No, it’s not, and we don’t have to play it that way. I was just trying to make you laugh. I know this is all a bit intense for you.”

“It is, but I’ll cope.” She stood and unwound the hijab from her hair. “I’ll cope even better once I get out of these hot clothes and into a cool shower.”

At least the room was cool, the central air rattling through the vents and circulating thanks to the ceiling fan that whirred softly overhead. She shook her head and scrubbed her fingers through her damp hair. The ride in the hot bus hadn’t been much help, that was certain. Next, she lifted the abaya over her head and almost moaned as cool air wafted over the cotton shift she’d worn beneath it.

She tossed the abaya on a chair and lifted her hair off her neck. Kev sat down at the desk and opened his computer.
 

“So what happens now?” she asked.

“We wait for everyone to get here.”

Lucky sat on the bed again, her heart kicking up a little as she contemplated all they had yet to do. It was maddening to think that all she could do was go to work teaching children to speak English and wait for Al Ahmad to show up. What did they think he was going to do? Come to a parent-teacher conference?

She’d asked Mendez that very question. He’d told her they had no idea what would happen, but they hoped that watching the class and waiting would result in something that would lead them to him.

Kev was tapping on his computer, his back to her. She glanced around the room again. When they’d told her she was going on a mission with HOT, this wasn’t what she’d expected at first. She’d envisioned them rappelling down a line from a helicopter, dressed all in black, and busting into a secret hideout, even though she knew it wasn’t always like that.
 

“I always wanted to be an operator, you know. Before, I mean…”

Kev turned toward her, one muscled arm hanging over the back of the chair. He didn’t ask before what. He knew she meant before North Africa. “And now?”

She laughed softly. “It’s a little maddening, to tell the truth. I think I believed there would be a lot more action. Instead, there’s a lot of waiting.”

“Every mission is different. Sometimes you go in and the metal of your barrel is so hot it glows. Other times, you don’t fire a shot.”

“I’m hoping this is one of the latter, to tell the truth.”

“Yeah, me too.”

She stood and stretched. His eyes dropped over her and she found herself wishing she could walk over and put her arms around him. Wishing she could press her mouth to his and just find comfort in his kiss.

But she didn’t know that he would welcome it. Besides, this wasn’t the place. So much remained unresolved from the last time they’d let restraint go out the window. It was always there between them, the purple elephant in the room that they’d both been pretending not to notice.
 

The last couple of days before they’d deployed, they’d spent their nights in the dorms at HOT HQ. There’d been no opportunity to talk alone, much less anything else.

Maybe she was the only one who felt itchy and achy, who couldn’t get the images of his naked body out of her head or stop thinking about how it had felt to have him moving deep inside her.

Now she could feel her nipples beading as she thought of it, feel goose bumps forming on her flesh. She dropped her arms and wrapped them around herself, hoping to hide her reaction from him. He was watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite fathom.

“I think I’d better take a shower,” she said. She left him sitting there and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and then twisting the lock at the last second, as if he was the one who needed a barrier between them when she was the one who couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the night they’d spent together.

It was only when she turned around and looked at the shower that she realized she’d forgotten toiletries and fresh clothing. Lucky sagged against the door and let out a frustrated breath.

It was going to be a long,
long
mission…

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Today, twenty men. Four women. Same place.

Abdul Halim lifted his head from the message on his phone and gazed out the window of his high-rise apartment building. His contact was telling him that twenty-four Westerners had arrived today and checked into the Royal Baq Hotel, the place where the government liked to corral the media. It was ostensibly to protect them, but Abdul Halim knew that it was also to control their access. The king and his government preferred to paint a picture of complete and utter control of the situation in Qu’rim when nothing was further from the truth.

He could see the Royal Baq Hotel’s domes from here. This influx of Westerners was not unexpected, but still he found it prudent to keep a watchful eye on their comings and goings through his contacts at the airport.
 

There were more new arrivals in the city than ever these days. Reporters come to stir up the world about the situation in Qu’rim, no doubt. Certainly some of them were CIA and MI6 operatives who were here for other reasons. And then there were the military teams like the ones that had been sent for him so many times before. He did not doubt that the Americans in particular would try again now that he’d seemingly returned to the land of the living.

But first they had to find him, and that was not going to be easy. He took a drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke. He’d spent a lot of time building this life he had now. He was a wealthy Qu’rimi citizen. He had contacts in the government. He provided a service to both sides of the conflict, though he would prefer that part stayed private.

Yes, it made his goals a little more difficult to achieve, but it enriched his coffers so he could realize his ultimate aims in the end. He was a man with a plan, and he was on the brink of his greatest triumph. Soon the Freedom Force would be the equal of any nuclear power on the planet. They would not dismiss him so easily then.

Yet he still worried about the tiniest things. He picked up his phone again and hit redial. His brother answered.

“Any news?”

Farouk blew out a breath that no doubt contained cigarette smoke. Abdul Halim liked a cigarette now and again, but Farouk always had a lit one in his fingers. His brother knew precisely what he meant.
 

“Nothing. We’ve let too much time go by. We’re still searching for her near military bases in the US. But so far there’s nothing.”

Abdul Halim gritted his teeth. It had been three weeks since Farouk had sent word to the network that Lucky Reid had to be found, and yet they’d had no progress.
 

He told himself that three weeks was nothing to worry about. He had bigger things to concentrate on here. Bigger goals. He could not spend his time worrying about the slim possibility that the United States government was somehow using Lucky Reid to find him. She’d seen his face once, briefly, and she’d been in a lot of pain when she had. Besides, he was careful not to be photographed, ever. There were no pictures of him circulating in a file, nothing anyone could set in front of her and ask her to find him.

He needed to stop obsessing over this and move on to other things. Indeed, it was time for a diversion in Baq. Something to occupy the Qu’rimi government and their supporters. The populace—and the reporters—needed something new to worry about. And he needed something to look forward to.

“Keep looking.” He did not like loose ends. “And inform the faithful it is time for Baq to feel our presence.”

***

Everyone was in country and checked in by 2100 local time. The guys ranged around the room Kev shared with Lucky, all looking relaxed but on edge in a way that only a special operations team could be.

Matt had decided after a perimeter check that this room would do for their meetings. They couldn’t meet often, not the full group, but the first night was crucial as they confirmed plans and discussed findings. Several of the guys had gone out that afternoon, ostensibly to see the sights but really to check the city’s defenses. Baq wasn’t an especially large city, but it was packed with military equipment and personnel.

The king was scared and with good reason. The situation in Qu’rim was rapidly deteriorating—as evidenced by the bullet holes in those buildings earlier—hence the reason they’d moved up the go date on this op. Kev only hoped the situation would hold out while they searched for their needle in the haystack.

Another team had been sent to the desert to help with security at the mine. It was all very hush-hush, but surely it was a move the Freedom Force would expect. This mission, however, was something he hoped they never considered possible. Sending the only person in the world who could identify their leader into a war zone with a counterterrorism force at her back bordered on insanity at the best of times. At the worst of times, well, he had no idea how to quantify it.

It was just fucking psychotic. And maybe that’s why it would work. If Al Ahmad didn’t see it coming, then maybe they had a chance.

“I’ve made contact with the embassy,” Matt said. “Lucky and Kev will go over there tomorrow so Lucky can apply for a teaching job through the embassy. She’ll be assigned to a girls’ school near the palace where intel indicates that Al Ahmad’s daughter goes. The school is very exclusive and small, so every student there will attend the same classes. There’s already one English teacher, but she’s about to be reassigned.”

Kev glanced at Lucky. She was frowning, and he knew she was thinking about the teacher who would be moved simply so she could get into place. It couldn’t be helped, though. They needed whatever access they could get, and this was the way it worked. The teacher would get another job—and maybe she’d get her old job back when they were gone, assuming the country hadn’t disintegrated into all-out civil war by then.