“No, thank you,” Marielle said brightly.“We’ve got it handled.”
The crew member nodded but didn’t leave immediately.He was young, maybe twenty-five, with nervous eyes that kept flicking between them.
Marielle forced herself to keep dabbing at the stain, to maintain the charade.After what felt like an eternity, he finally left.
Hanna grabbed Marielle’s wrist.“Please,” she whispered.“Please get me out of here.”
“We will.I promise.But you have to trust us.”
Hanna nodded, her eyes brimming with tears.
They returned to the dining room, where the men were deep in conversation about yachts and cars and other expensive things.Idris’s eyes tracked Hanna as she reclaimed her seat, his hand immediately finding her thigh under the table.
Possessive.Controlling.
Marielle caught Omar’s eye across the table and gave him a slight nod.
15
After the world’slongest lunch, everyone dispersed.Omar and Marielle returned to their stateroom to finish packing.
As they neared their door, she told him the information they’d been sent to retrieve existed only in Hanna’s head.The only way to complete their mission was to extract her.Which meant going directly against Jake’s orders.
He was about to respond, but then he froze.The locking mechanism on their door was slightly bent.Someone had been in here.
He caught Marielle’s eye and jerked his chin at it.She saw it too, her expression tightening.
Inside, they did a quick sweep but nothing seemed obviously disturbed.Their bags were still packed, the few items they hadn’t yet packed were where they’d left them.But someone had definitely been here, searching for … something.
“Someone’s onto us,” Omar whispered.
“The Secret Service agents?”
“Maybe.Or Idris’s guards.Or both.”He ran a hand through his hair and murmured.“We need to contact Jake.Tell him Hanna confirmed she’s the asset.”
She pulled the covcom from her bra.He snorted.Sothat’swhere she’d stashed it.
They composed the message together, their heads bent close over the tiny screen:
Made contact with asset.Data not stored externally.Requires extraction of asset herself.
Jake’s response was immediate:
NEGATIVE.ORDERS STAND.LEAVE THE ASSET.EXTRACT YOURSELVES IMMEDIATELY.
Omar felt Marielle tense beside him.He typed back:
Understood.Will extract at first opportunity tomorrow.
He powered down the device and handed it back to Marielle.
“We can’t just leave her,” she whispered.
“Jake’s right.This is way outside our mission parameters.VP’s son, Secret Service, international waters?—”
“She’s being held prisoner, Omar.Whatever her father and Idris’s father are doing, she’s collateral.You saw how he treats her.”
“I know.But if we extract her, we’re going rogue.You understand that?”
