“About four klicks north after this,” Gage said as he took a right, “then seven klicks west and we’ll get back on the highway for a bit.”
Gage knew this city almost as well as the locals did, so Blake had no problem following him wherever he wanted to take them. Everyone got quiet again. While David Lee Roth sang about dancing the night away, they took the short cut past the traffic snarl without incident and got back on the highway. Soon enough they reached their exit and looped across the highway toward the building the NSA had secretly commandeered for their headquarters.
The first sign anything was wrong was the plume of smoke that appeared above the crowded group of buildings ahead of them. A minute after that the sound of sirens started up.
They eased over onto the shoulder to let emergency vehicles pass. Warning tingles started in Blake’s gut but before he could check in with Gage, Alex came over the earpiece.
“There’s a situation near our headquarters. Reports say a motorcycle bomb just went off in that area. We’re waiting for confirmation of target and risk assessment. Stand by.”
Blake shot a glance at Dunphy, who also wore an earpiece. The man’s jaw tightened. Blake looked at Jordyn in the mirror. She was staring out the windshield at the smoke, her expression tense. Even if she hadn’t been wearing an earpiece, he knew she’d already figured out something was wrong.
“What’s happening?” Zahra asked.
Sean turned in his seat to look at her. “Possible bombing near our building. We’re waiting for more info.”
Zahra was sitting straight up now, her attention riveted to the rising column of smoke before them. “Is it a welcome message?”
“Don’t know,” Sean answered, and Blake saw his hand go to the weapon holstered in his waistband. “We’ll sit tight until we know more.”
But they wouldn’t sit here for long.
It made Blake edgy as hell to stay exposed out here, and he knew the others felt the same way. More emergency vehicles flew past them, lights and sirens going. Looked like there might be more damage than he’d initially thought. He shifted in his seat, the weight of his sidearm a comforting presence in its holster against the small of his back. Traffic around them began to build up and the sense of being hemmed in grew to a shrieking awareness inside him.
Finally Alex came back on the team radio. “Ellis,” he said to Blake, “we’re moving Claire into your vehicle with Zahra. Lang and Wright will drive them east to a different location while the rest of us head in and assess the situation. You guys take their truck. Go.”
Dunphy was already unbuckling his belt, explaining the situation to Zahra. Blake turned to face Jordyn in the back seat. She watched him with a steady gaze, her posture tense. “You’re switching vehicles with us so we can head up there and take a look.”
Without a word she nodded and exited the vehicle, heading around back to pop the tailgate and grab the duffel that held some of their weapons. Blake slid out just as Lang, a sandy blond man in his late thirties, and Wright, a dark haired guy maybe in his mid-twenties, ran up to take over the vehicle.
Blake hurried over to the last vehicle and jumped behind the wheel as Dunphy climbed in beside him and Jordyn slid in next to Tom in the backseat. As soon as they slammed their doors shut Gage took off in the lead with a roar of the engine. Blake followed suit as the Brits moved in behind and took the first right turn, peeling away from the rest of them to take Claire and Zahra to safety just in case.
“What do we know so far?” Tom asked, checking his weapon as Jordyn and Dunphy did the same with their M4s.
“Not much,” Blake answered, keeping his attention on the task of following Gage as they veered past the piled up traffic. The police had set up a roadblock ahead to keep traffic and curious onlookers out of the area. He saw Gage handing over documents and talking to the officer there. The Pakistani spoke to someone over the radio then waved both vehicles through.
Once they got close to the scene the level of damage became evident. Gage slowed as they neared the site. The motorcyclist had packed a hell of a lot of explosives into the bomb, because the entire lower face of the building on the corner was gone. Flames poured out of the busted windows and there were still people trapped in the upper floors. Others were carrying the wounded and dead away from the street where the blackened remains of the bike lay smoldering just feet from the curb. Fire crews and paramedics were still arriving on scene.
“Stand by,” Alex said. He got out of the lead vehicle and approached the Pakistani officers forming the perimeter around the building as he talked to someone on his cell phone. After a few minutes of talking and questioning the cops, he strode back to the SUV, his voice coming through Blake’s earpiece. “Everybody out and take a look around. Let’s make sure the area’s secure before the bomb squad shows up.”
Blake cut the engine and they all gathered on the sidewalk. Jordyn was right next to him, rifle in her hands, gaze moving vigilantly over the growing crowd around them. More than a few people were staring at her, including the Pak cops, because the sight of a woman holding a weapon so comfortably and being part of a male team wasn’t something they saw every day. Blake stepped closer to her on instinct, the protective side of him taking over.
Alex divided them into pairs. Blake stayed close to Jordyn as they headed up the near side of the street. They moved together easily, able to anticipate each other’s movements because they’d done this sort of exercise dozens of times together for fun back in the day when she was fresh out of bootcamp.
Onlookers lined the streets at the ends where the barricades had been set up. No one made a threatening move at them and nothing suspicious tripped his radar. He and Jordyn stood with their backs to each other as they surveyed the area. “See anything?” he asked.
“Negative. You?”
“Nope.” They held their position until Alex spoke over the radio again.
“Witnesses say it was a suicide bomber acting alone. Police confirm that, though they’re not ruling out accomplices. They say the bomber detonated his device when he wasn’t able to gain access to the restricted section west of here. Making a statement, I guess.”
“How close are we to our HQ?” Hunter asked, his voice full of suspicion.
“About three hundred meters. It’s the concrete building on the north side to the west.”
Blake’s head snapped around. Jordyn was already looking in the same direction, zeroed in on the nondescript three-story building in question.
Well, shit.
Talk about too close for comfort.
“This about us?” Dunphy asked, voicing the question they were all thinking.
“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Alex said. They all knew Hassani’s network had eyes and ears everywhere. Though it was unlikely anyone would have known their headquarters’ location already, it was possible someone had noticed the NSA agents setting up the place over the past two days. Someone at immigration might have reported the team’s arrival at the airport.
At any rate, they couldn’t risk staying here now. Alex let out a hard sigh. “All right, let’s move out. We’ll go to plan B. Follow us out of here.”
He and Jordyn hightailed it back to the guarded SUV with the others. When everyone was loaded up they did a U-turn and headed back through a different barricade. Blake had no idea where they were going, he was just glad Alex had planned for this contingency.
They drove out of the downtown core and took a circuitous route around the city. When they were sure no one was tailing them, Gage led them to the northeastern part of the city, past an industrial district, and pulled through a gate where two well-armed Caucasian men wearing body armor stood guard.
“Home sweet home?” Dunphy deduced from beside Blake.
“Guess so.” Blake drove into the open bay garage door and parked next to the other SUV. It was a big space, filled with several motorbikes, a couple ATVs and a beat up piece of shit car that looked like it had fallen down a mountain or two.
Alex slammed his door shut and rounded the hood toward them. “This is where you’re going to be working part time,” he said to Jordyn. “There’re rooms big enough to act as barracks on the upper floor. We’ll outfit it so you, Claire and Zahra have one side and the rest of us will take the other.” He glanced Blake and Dunphy’s way. “Let’s get the bunks made up.”
So much for the promise of hot showers.
Lang and Wright showed up with Claire and Zahra about thirty minutes into their efforts to make the space liveable for everyone. Wasn’t ideal, but it would work for now, until they found better and more secure accommodations. Not that Blake or the other guys would be around much once the intel started rolling in.
By the time they’d brought in bunks for everyone and separated the upper floor in half with two rolling hospital screens to act as a partition, they were all ready to sprawl face first onto their uncomfortable cots and call it a night. Even though it was only two in the afternoon, local time.
Blake found Jordyn down in the garage familiarizing herself with the tools and equipment there. She glanced up from where she’d been organizing a series of socket wrenches and went still when she realized they were alone. She’d taken the shawl off, and he thought again how the short cap of her dark hair made her eyes seem even bigger, bluer.
A pang hit him in the chest at the sight she made there in the midst of that grungy environment. Sexy as hell with those lean feminine lines and curves, her smooth golden skin and soft mouth. He hated that his mind kept going there. Dammit, it shouldn’t be this hard to keep his conflicted feelings for her locked down. As he faced her, he barely resisted the urge to rub a hand over the back of his neck. It was too late to say he was sorry for dragging her into this.
Glancing around the garage, he finally found his balls and looked back at her. “You okay with this?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Not much of a conversation starter, but then he shouldn’t be surprised. She hadn’t said a word to him about all the attacks on the team, or about this latest incident that might or might not be connected to them. “Alex’ll find us a more secure location in the next few days, but this is a good spot for now. Low key, out of the way.” Made it easier for them to stay out of sight for a while.
She nodded.
Damn, what else was he supposed to say? “You need anything?”
Something moved in her eyes, a softness, then she pushed to her feet and crossed toward him, wiping her hands on a rag she’d tucked into her hip pocket. He could tell she was tired, no matter how she tried to hide it. Averting her gaze, she looked down at her hands as she spoke. “Look, I’m not mad at you, okay?”
That was good to know, but it didn’t ease his conscience completely. He’d never meant to hurt her—would never hurt her intentionally. “Okay.”
Her head came up. She met his eyes for a second then looked away again, as though she couldn’t hold his gaze. “I’m not. Seriously, let’s just get past this, okay? I’m moving on, promise.”
Wait, moving on? “You mean, from the other day, or…?”
She huffed out an annoyed sound. “From everything. The night of the funeral, you, me. Us. Whatever. It’s done.” She waved a hand dismissively, her cheeks staining bright pink.
Us?
As he dissected that phrase and combined it with the flash of emotion he’d seen in her eyes a minute ago, a flash of realization hit him.
Whoa, wait.
He sucked in a breath, nearly staggered back under the impact of the insight that left him reeling.
Had Jordyn been into him?
Seriously
into him in a way he’d never in a million years suspected, let alone given himself permission to even dream about?
Blake searched her face, needing to know for certain that’s what she’d just implied. Looking back now, he realized he might not have imagined the longing and wistfulness he’d seen in her eyes during his last few visits with her family.
Oh, Jesus.
He swallowed, aware that his heart was thudding against his chest wall. “I never thought—I didn’t realize you…” He trailed off, not knowing what the hell to say or what to think, and blurting out useless shit would only make things worse.
He’d known she’d had a crush on him for a while, but never thought it meant anything. Had it been way more than that to her? For the first time he allowed himself to examine and admit his long-buried feelings for her. A wave of regret slammed into him. He fucking worshipped the ground she walked on. Thought she was talented, smart and funny, loyal and sexy as hell.
She cocked her head at him, narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What, you thought I was just looking for a fuck buddy that night?”
He didn’t answer, because that’s exactly what he’d thought. The night of Jamie’s funeral, he’d mistakenly assumed she’d been acting out of grief and loneliness, turning to him to make the pain stop and nothing more.
He still couldn’t comprehend the magnitude of all this; that she’d wanted more than sex. Evidently a
hell
of a lot more. The Marine Corps had trained him to be an elite observer, an expert on noticing things about people most others didn’t. So how the hell had he missed the signs of how she’d felt about him? Or had he just not
let
himself see them? He ran a hand over his hair, suddenly realizing just how badly he’d fucked this up.
When he didn’t respond, she snorted and shook her head at him in disgust. “God, you’re such a jackass.”
No, he was a total fucking
idiot
. “I had no idea you thought of me that way.” It was true. But a primal leap of triumph swept through his veins at her admission. He knew Jordyn. Knew she didn’t give her heart easily, and when she did, she gave it wholeheartedly. That devastated look on her face when he’d told her why he’d dropped out of her life? It made all kinds of sense now. God.
But that unease still twisted inside him, the one that warned she wasn’t for him and that he’d be stupid to risk his heart that way again.
“Yeah, got that loud and clear. So, can we move on now?” Her eyes blazed with anger and pride, her cheeks bright pink. “Whatever, like I said, I’m over it. Let’s just both be adults and deal with it. Fresh start, beginning now.” She turned away and took a step toward the door.