WAR: Opposition: (WAR Book 3) (41 page)

When had his flighty, artsy sister become this battered, yet triumphant, woman?

Kirra raised her brows, and he realized that he’d lost track of the conversation. “Uh…”

She shook her head and took pity on him. “I’ve been training six days a week for over five years now.” There was something hesitant in her eyes. As if she expected an insult.

How had he been so blind to the hurt he’d been causing her?

“Dev, the attack changed me. I understand why you were always harping on me before Kyle’s death, but I’m not that wild, irresponsible girl anymore. I have a successful career. I’m well-respected in my industry. I can hold my own in a fight. Yet you continue to treat me as if I’m a child who is incapable of making her own decisions.”

He glanced around the plane to make certain no one could overhear them. “Look. I owe you an apology. I—” Dammit, he was a man of action. He didn’t know what words to say to make this better. But a glimpse of the cautious hope in Kirra’s eyes proved that he needed to find a way to mend the damage he’d done.

“I’m proud of you, Kirra. You made the best decisions possible under the circumstances. No one would have expected you to escape from the rebels twice, yet you did. That’s impressive.”

The shock on her face made him cringe. She studied his face a moment, then grinned at him. “Thank you. I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve been too hard on you. I only wanted to keep you safe.” He smiled faintly. “You have to admit that you were always in trouble of one kind or another.”

“I admit to nothing,” she said archly.

He chuckled, because she expected him to. Then he rubbed his finger over the palm of her hand while he considered whether to reveal everything he knew.

Before he could formulate the right words, Kirra said, “Dev, what I need is your support, not your all-or-nothing version of protection. I’m fully capable of running my own life.”

“I’m sorry. But, you’re my baby sister. It’s hard to think of you other than as someone needing my help.” Not that he’d done such a good job of protecting her. Then or now.

After a heavy silence, he finally said, “I know who you ran with in Cape Town.”

Kirra tensed and tried to pull her hand away.

“Relax, I’m not going to turn you in to the authorities.”

She made a small sound and he met her astonished gaze.

“Did you really think I’d want to see you arrested?”

She shrugged, and that admission hurt worse than the pain in his ribs. “You’re family, Kirra. I love you.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Aw, now, don’t cry.” He reached out with his free hand and brushed the tears off her cheeks, trying to hide his wince from her.

“I thought that was one of the reasons you stayed away,” she sobbed. “Because you knew what I’d done and didn’t want to have to turn me in.”

“No,
sus
, never.” He tried to gather her against him, but his ribs and their safety belts prevented him from moving any closer. Instead, he released her hand, then put his arm around her shoulders and drew her against his side. “Sure, after mom and dad told me that the police had called them because you’d been picked up for vagrancy, I wondered about the crowd you were hanging out with. But I was too busy with the military to give it much thought.” He shook his head. “That sounds terrible. If one of my teammates was that disconnected to his sister, I’d have been after him to know why.”

“You’ve never been comfortable with emotional stuff.”

“That’s no excuse.” Even if it was true. He’d rather run into a firefight with a terrorist than deal with messy—and painful—emotions. “After the attack, though, I wanted to know everything I could about your life. Partly to understand what had led up to the attack, but mostly because I wanted a way to prepare a defense for you if the police decided they had enough evidence to prosecute you.”

“Oh.”

“Are you crying again?”

“N-no. Of course not. I just t-thought you’d hate me for stealing.”

He leaned into her. “
Ja
well, you’re my sister. Was I happy that I discovered you’d been a thief? No. But I understood how you ended up there. If I’d been there for you after Kyle’s death, if mom and dad had been more supportive, then you wouldn’t have needed the false stability of that asshole Franz. And once you got a taste of the thrill, your love of risk would have found committing thefts addictive.”

Her shoulders rose underneath his arm. “Despite constantly hearing you and the parents call me stupid, it turned out that I’m pretty smart. Being a member of the gang of thieves was the first time since Kyle’s death that I felt not just appreciated, but respected.”

“Kirra, what kind of stupid stunt have you pulled now?”
Dev flinched at the memory. How many times had he said similar things to her without realizing the effect his words would have? “I’m sorry if I made you think you were stupid. Your acts may have seemed stupid and ill-planned, but I never thought you lacked brains. Just the common sense to apply them properly.”

She stared at her lap. “It wasn’t that I didn’t consider the consequences of my actions. I just put priority on the rush of the experience above all else. As long as I had Kyle, I knew I was loved and that I mattered, so I gave up trying to make the rest of the family understand me. But it still hurt.”

“I’m sorry.” It seemed that he’d never run out of things to apologize for.

“Apology accepted.” She glanced at him, then focused her gaze on her lap. “After the attack I finally realized that the greatest harm I did my victims wasn’t in stealing their property, but in violating their sense that their private space was safe. To make amends, I’ve been working with a group that uses art and music to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. And since I started making a profit on my albums, I’ve been contributing a portion to a group that works with victims of crime.”

“That’s good. That sounds…ah…very healthy.” See? There was a reason he hated emotional stuff. It always left him tongue-tied.

Kirra’s next words came out very softly. “I still have the occasional urge to steal something when an opportunity presents itself. But I don’t want to be that girl any more, and so far I’ve fought off the urge.”

“I don’t suppose your adventures over the past few days have cured your need for an adrenaline rush?”

She laughed. “I think I can do without the life or death situations, but as for needing the challenge and the thrill of testing myself against risky odds? I’m afraid that’s a permanent addiction.”

He sighed dramatically. “I should have known.”

“Yes, you should have. After all, you like danger as much as I do. Else you wouldn’t be a soldier.”

He opened his mouth, realized that anything he said would probably be misinterpreted, and for once in his life didn’t let the comment escape. Instead, he told her, “I know I haven’t been a very good brother, but if you’ll give me the chance, I promise to do better in the future.”

She nodded and met his eyes. “I’d like that.”

Tension he hadn’t realized he’d been holding suddenly vanished. “Good.”

On the other side of the plane, Hoss was gesturing and making faces. A sure sign he was telling some tall tale.

Kirra watched Hoss with a small frown. “So, what exactly is your job now? I noticed that most of your teammates are Americans.”

“Yeah.” He hesitated. Kwame Azumah, the founder of WAR, didn’t like having outsiders know about the organization. Part of their strength lay in remaining under the radar. But Dev figured Kirra had earned the right to know. “I’m not allowed to say much, but I’m part of an underground military group working against the rebels. A group of former American black-ops soldiers make up the majority of my team, but the overall military force is predominately West African.”

She smiled. “Thank you for trusting me with that.”

“You’re welcome.”

The door to the operating room opened. Dr. Kirk motioned toward Lance, then she disappeared back inside.

Kirra bit her lip as she watched Lance follow Dr. Kirk.

“Don’t worry,” Dev said. “Dr. Kirk will take good care of Jarrod.”

Kirra bit her lip, then nodded hesitantly. “Okay.” But she didn’t lose her worried expression.

“You love him, don’t you?” It was not the type of match he’d have wished on his sister. Not in a million years. But if Jarrod treated her right and made her happy, then maybe he could accept it.

“Yes, I do. But I’m not sure I can forgive him for shooting you.”

Dev shifted position, trying to find one that didn’t put pressure on his ribs. “Talk to the guy before you throw him away.”

Kirra looked at him with surprise, and Dev gave her a wry smile. “He beat it into me that by calling you stupid I’d made you think I believed it. So yeah, you should give the guy the chance to explain.”

“That’s…way more calm a reaction than I’d expected from you.”

“
Ja,
well. Seems we’ve both matured now, haven’t we?”

S
eth regained
full consciousness on a surge of panic.

What had happened? Where was he? Where was Kirra? He glanced frantically around. Institutional walls. A TV mounted in the corner to the right of the foot of his bed. A pale blue folding partition blocking him from the rest of the room. An IV drip hanging from a rolling stand with a tube leading into his left arm. The smell of disinfectant.

Hospital.

The assassin. Marcus. U.S. soldiers.

He checked his wrists. Unshackled.

O-kay. Apparently he wasn’t under arrest. At least not yet.

Taking a survey of his body, he felt a muted ache under his right pec. He peered under the sheet and saw a mess of bandages and a tube that snaked across to another machine discretely placed to the right side of the bed near his head. Jesus, the assassin’s bullet must have done a lot of damage, because the bandages felt as if they weighed a ton.

He sank into the pillows. Just lifting his head to look under the sheet had tired him. His eyes closed.

When he next woke, it was to the knowledge that someone had entered the room. Seth tensed. Light footsteps sounded on the linoleum floor, then Kirra stepped around the partition.

She wore dark blue scrubs that made her skin appear paler and showed off the multiple cuts, bruises, and bandages, but he’d never seen such a beautiful sight. Joy temporarily blinded him, so it took a moment to realize that Kirra had come to a stop a several feet from his bed. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

Crap. “I knew he was wearing a vest!” Seth blurted.

Kirra’s expression didn’t lighten.

“Dev’s okay, isn’t he?” Had the fall over the cliff hurt her brother? Christ. He hadn’t accidentally killed the man, had he?

“Dev’s fine,” she snapped. “He’s cranky because he has a couple of cracked ribs and breathing or moving hurts.” She paused. “He wanted me to tell you that your family is safe.”

Seth closed his eyes in relief.

“But you weren’t wearing a vest.”

Uh-oh.

Seth cautiously lifted his lids.

Kirra had moved to the side of his bed. It was a good thing there wasn’t a weapon at hand, because her entire body vibrated with fury.

“Look, it’s not what you think,” he said quickly. “I didn’t intend for the assassin to actually kill me. Just to shoot me so that it looked as if I was dead.”

“Why? Didn’t you trust Dev to come through for your family?”

“No…I mean, yes!”

Her expression hardened.

“Kirra, cut me a break here. My brain is still foggy because of the pain meds. You misinterpreted what I said. I did trust Dev to arrange protection for my family. That’s why I decided to fake my death rather than actually die.”

“I don’t understand why you needed to appear dead. Or why you shot Dev.”

“Your brother’s misplaced heroism screwed up my plan. I had to shoot him to get him out of my way and out of danger from the assassin.”

“And you threw him over the cliff to further protect him?”

“Yes!” Seth knew he was screwing this up, but dammit, he hadn’t had any time to prepare his defense. “I couldn’t chance that he’d be hit by a stray bullet, or that the assassin would switch his attention from you to Dev. It wasn’t that far a drop.”

“Yet you rolled with the assassin over that same cliff didn’t you? Putting Dev back into danger from the assassin.”

Ouch. Although her eyes shot fire, her tone could have frozen hell itself. “Uh, well, at that point I was more worried about getting the assassin away from you.” He searched her face, hoping to see some softening. But she still appeared ready to kill him.

“So you fell onto the river bank and what? The gun went off?”

“Exactly. The first shot was fired when we hit the ground. It went wild. The second shot…uh…”

“Don’t even
think
of lying to me.”

Yeah, he knew better than that. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be the last straw that destroyed her love. “So, we struggled for the pistol. I was trying to get him to shoot me in the shoulder, but he twisted his hand at the last moment.”

Kirra’s face went white. The fire in her eyes dimmed.

Shit. He should have lied to her. “But I managed to get my hand on my combat knife and stab him.” He frowned. “Is he dead?”

Kirra shrugged. “Not last I heard.”

“Too bad.” He gave her smile. She didn’t return it.

“C’mon, Kirra. Don’t stay mad at me. I told you, I only wanted to appear dead.”

“I still don’t get that part. You knew your family was going to be protected.”

“But not you.”

“What?”

Christ. He recognized that tone. If he didn’t find the right words, he could kiss any hopes of reconciliation good-bye. “I knew that as long as my blackmailer believes that I’m alive, then everyone I associate with remains under threat. You. Dev. Anyone who helps me.”

“So you decided that your only recourse was death.”

“A
fake
death.” This was it. Either she’d forgive him, or kick him out of her life. “I love you, Kirra. I want a future with you. I figured that if it only appeared I was dead, then maybe Dev could arrange for me to get protection from the same people helping my family.”

“Did you tell Dev your plan?”

“Uh. No. He had to react as if I really had died.”

Kirra turned her back.

Great. He’d bared his soul, but failed to convince her that he was worth betting on.

He stared helplessly at her back. “I don’t know what else to say, Kirra. I did what I thought was best to protect both my family and you. I’m sorry that the gun slipped, but it wasn’t my intent to come so close to death.”

Her shoulders shook.

Was that a good sign? Or a bad one? He tried to sit up, but collapsed back with a grunt of pain.

“Seth!” Kirra spun around. “What are you doing? You’re not supposed to move.”

He watched as she pushed the button to raise the upper part of his bed. Despite her concern, she kept her eyes lowered.

“I don’t blame you for being angry,” he said. “Go ahead and yell at me if you need to. Just let me know if we have any shot at a future.”

She shuddered, then leaned over and pressed her cheek to his.

His heart soared, but he stayed silent, too afraid of scaring her off.

“Yes. I’m furious with you. But you’re still mine. I love you.” Her voice cracked and her tears slid against his skin. “God, Seth. I was so scared that you were going to die.”

“Shh, Kirra, I’m all right. I survived.”

She clutched his good arm to her chest as she lowered herself to the chair by the side of the bed and looked up at him through streaming eyes. “B-but you almost didn’t. I almost l-lost you.”

He stroked his fingers over her damp cheeks. “Shh. I’m not going to die on you. I love you, Kirra. If you have the strength to fight for us, I owe it to you to do the same.”

“Th-thank you.” She bent her head and sobbed as hard as if he
had
died.

Feeling completely helpless, yet so damn grateful she hadn’t rejected him, all Seth could do was run his hand over her hair and murmur words of love and encouragement. And yeah, maybe his own eyes dampened a bit. He still didn’t understand what he’d done to deserve this amazing woman, but he wasn’t going to let her go.

Finally, Kirra’s tears stopped. She pushed to her feet and found the tissue box. After blotting her face and blowing her nose, she pulled up the visitor’s chair.

“You’re not the only one who’s mad,” Seth said. “You took ten years off my life by letting yourself be captured by the rebels.”

She opened her mouth, but he gave the slightest shake of his head, all that he could manage. “No. You don’t need to explain or apologize. I hate that you felt it was necessary, but I understand why you did it.” His breath caught. “Watching them take you away was one of the hardest moments in my life. I don’t want to lose you, either.”

They shared a look and Seth knew that for now, he’d navigated the most dangerous obstacles to their future.

“What happened once the rebels took you?”

His fists were white knuckled by the time Kirra finished explaining. “You are one kick-ass woman,” he said. “I’m so damn proud of you.”

She beamed at him. “Thanks. Even Dev is beginning to acknowledge that I’m not the same girl I used to be. “Now it’s your turn.”

When he described how he’d recognized Marcus’s voice, she nodded. “Dev’s part of the team that was on the helicopter.”

“I figured as much. Whoever he works for, they’re lucky to have Marcus.”

“From what I hear, Jarrod, you can give Jones a run for his money.” A man wearing a dress uniform identifying him as a U.S. Marine stepped around the partition.

Damn. Seth had been so focused on Kirra, he hadn’t even noticed the door opening. That was a good way to get himself killed. Particularly since everything about this man—from his hard eyes to the closely-shorn hair to the leashed power of his walk—spoke of danger.

Kirra stood and placed herself between Seth and the newcomer.

The man gave her an approving half-smile and stopped.

“Ms. Neilson, Mr. Jarrod, I’m Chief Warrant Officer Wil Lansing, of the United States Marine Corps. I’m head of security at our base in the Greater Niger Republic. I have business I need to discuss privately with Mr. Jarrod.”

Kirra shot Seth a look of alarm.

“First though, my brother Max asked me to show you this.” Lansing pulled a phone out of his pocket and held it toward Seth. A video showed his mother and sister smiling as they watched his niece play with a golden retriever on a large grassy lawn surrounded by pine trees.

Seth raised his eyes to Lansing’s face.

“That’s the training compound for the SSU,” Lansing explained. “The team brought your family into protective custody just as your plane left the Ivory Republic.”

Even though Kirra had already confirmed as much, seeing the proof for himself meant so much more. He reached for Kirra’s hand as a wave of relief turned his muscles to mush. “Tell your brother thank you,” he murmured.

“I will. Now, before Ms. Neilson leaves, I’d like to know what happened to the diamonds,” Lansing said. “Did the man who dragged you into the woods take them?”

“Who? Oh.” He meant Rick Martin. “The media caught it on tape?”

“Yes, but the other man was too deeply in shadow, so they haven’t made an identification.” Something about his careful phrasing made Seth think that Lansing knew who’d grabbed him. Now, why would Lansing want to pretend that he hadn’t recognized Martin?

Not my business.

For once, Seth intended to listen to that little voice.

“The diamonds should have been in my pants pocket,” Seth said.

Lansing shook his head. “Your pockets were empty. The team that cleared the area after the helicopter lifted off found no sign of the diamonds in the immediate vicinity or at the safe house.”

Seth and Lansing both looked at Kirra. With a shrug and a half-smile, she pulled the bag out from the waistband of her scrubs. The drape of her shirt had hidden the telltale bulge. “Old habits,” she murmured as she passed the bag over to Lansing. “I lifted these off Seth before I knew I could trust the men on the helicopter.”

Seth laughed. “Ow.” He grinned at her. “That’s my girl.”

Even Lansing chuckled. “I expect there’s an interesting story there. Maybe some day I’ll have time to sit down with you and hear all about it.” He opened the bag, poured a few diamonds onto his palm, then nodded and tucked the bag into his pocket.

“What’s going to happen to the diamonds?” Kirra asked.

Lansing shrugged. “There’s a power struggle going on between the government of Angola and the mining company that claims the diamonds were stolen from their mine. My job is to simply hold them until a decision is reached. Now, Ms. Neilson, I need to have that private conversation with Mr. Jarrod. Please leave us.”

“Wait.” Kirra glanced in panic from Lansing to Seth. “I’m going to get to see Seth again, aren’t I?”

“That depends on a lot of variables that I can’t predict at the moment,” Lansing said.

“Then, no. I’m not leaving him.” She shifted so that her body blocked Lansing from reaching Seth.

“For Christ’s sake, give us a moment,” Seth growled at the other man.

Lansing shot him a look, then nodded and went to stand by the door.

Kirra brushed her hand over Seth’s cheek and kissed him. He tasted tears, and cursed his injured body. He wanted to hold Kirra one last time. Instead, he kissed her with all the love and hope in his heart. Two emotions he barely recognized these days.

Lansing cleared his throat.

With a reluctant sigh, Kirra stepped back.

“I don’t want to lose you,” she murmured. She flicked a glance at Lansing.

“Kirra—” Seth shook his head slightly. “I don’t know what the government plans to do with me, but whatever it is, I need to face it. I’m done running.”

He studied her face, trying to imprint her on his memory for the long, lonely days ahead. “We’re going to have to trust Chief Lansing. I promise you, I will find you again. I love you.”

“Time’s up.” Lansing stepped away from the door, took Kirra’s arm in a firm, but gentle grip and began herding her toward the door.

“I love you, Seth!” Kirra called out. “If you don’t come back to me I will hunt you down. I swear it!”

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Lansing said as he escorted Kirra through the door and into the hallway. “I’ll do my best to ensure that you see him again. It might be months or even years, but if at all possible, you’ll have your man back.”

With that, Lansing shut the door in her face.

Seth glared at the man. “Was that really necessary?”

Lansing raised his brows. “Nothing but gentle force was going to remove her from your side,” he pointed out. “She was fierce as a lioness defending her cubs.”

Seth clung to the fact that Kirra loved him. He sighed. “Okay, lay it on me. Are you here to arrest me?”

Lansing sat down a bit awkwardly in the visitor’s chair. Seth frowned as the man rubbed his thigh.