“Where are you going?” Talia asked, her head spinning as he headed for his bedroom. “When will you be back?”
This was crazy. Lennox was leaving, based on a single twenty second phone call, with no prior warning or notice. And while she knew that was part and parcel of being a SEAL, at this moment, she was terrified.
“I have no idea where I’m going or when I’ll be back,” he called from the bedroom. “I’ll call you if and when I get a chance, but I could be gone for three days or three months. I might not be able to call you at all.”
Talia was still trying to process all of that when Lennox came back down the hallway, a small khaki-colored backpack over one shoulder. The first thought that popped into her head was how he could possibly manage to survive for three months on a bag that small.
“I know me leaving right now sucks, but I don’t have a choice,” Lennox said, stopping in front of her. “I’ll call Kyla on the way into the office, let her know what we learned about Vera, and that I’ll be out of pocket for a while. I have no idea who’s going on this mission with me, but Kyla has all my Teammates on speed dial. If something comes up, she can get help. So please, don’t do anything dangerous without backup. Better yet, don’t do anything dangerous at all. At least not until I get home. And if you even think you see that guy who chased you last night, run to someplace with a lot of people, call Kyla, and tell her that you need help.”
She stood there at a loss for words, her mind still not registering everything. This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to get involved with him. The thought that he could be called away on a moment’s notice had been bad enough, but the reality that he could disappear to parts unknown at any time was a nightmare come true.
Lennox rested his hands on her shoulders. “Please. I know this is difficult, confusing, and uncomfortable. Promise me that you’ll stay here for tonight. At the very least. Where I know you’ll be safe.”
She started to say no, but then realized that him asking her to stay was more about him knowing that she was safe than anything else. He was about to head into who knew what kind of danger and he was worried about her. They’d spent only one day together and yet the thought that seemed to be occupying the front of his mind was her.
“Okay,” she said softly. “Tonight at least.”
“Thank you,” he said.
For a moment, Talia thought Lennox might kiss her, but instead he wrapped her in a hug. She automatically melted into his embrace, not realizing how much she needed that.
“I have to go. Be safe,” Lennox murmured against her hair.
The door was already closing behind him before Talia even realized he was moving, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the living room, suddenly wishing Lennoxhadkissed her. It was crazy, especially since she barely knew him, but she missed him already.
CHAPTER SIX
“I have to admit, when they told us that we’d be providing support for a CIA covert op, I expected we’d end up somewhere in Ukraine, Jordan, or Syria,” Darwin said as he gazed out the living room window of the fancy ranch house they’d been staying in since last night. “But Cuiabá, Brazil? I definitely didn’t have that on my bingo card. I wasn’t expecting them to put us up in a place like this either.”
Lennox glanced up from the leather couch where he was reading his favorite urban fantasy novel, taking in the majestic fireplace and expensive looking paintings on the walls. There were a dozen other rooms as picture perfect as this one, including four bedrooms, a chef’s kitchen, and an outdoor swimming pool. The homewaspretty sweet.
“I’ve never worked directly with the CIA before,” Kirk Palmer said from the other couch, gaze on the big screen TV and the soccer game he was watching. Blond and blue-eyed, he had that same surfer vibe that Colt did. “This could be standard issue.”
“I couldn’t care less about the housing accommodations,” Simon McGrath muttered almost angrily, poking through the book shelves on either side of the TV, looking for something to read. Tall with dark hair and brown eyes, both he and Kirk werefrom Darwin’s platoon and just as easy to work with. “I just want to get on with this mission—whatever the hell we’re here to do.”
Having more experience working with the CIA’s Special Operations Group, Lennox could understand his Teammates’ confusion and frustration. The agency’s ultra-secretive tactical unit had their own way of doing things and rarely felt the need to provide details to those they worked with.
“You guys might as well relax and get comfortable,” Colt suggested from the other end of the couch Lennox was sitting on. “The SOG guys will get here when they get here. They have no problem making us cool our heels for a week if that’s what they want to do.”
That was true enough.
“Man, I hope not,” Lennox muttered, not bothering to look up from his book this time. He’d read this first book in this series a dozen times, but it never failed to keep him occupied. And he definitely needed the distraction at the moment. Not only was it good, it was also lucky. Every time he read it on a mission, he always made it back. So it stayed in his travel bag for every trip. He even left it in his backpack or cargo pocket during airborne jumps because you never knew when you might need your lucky charm.
“Hey,” Colt said, waiting for him to look up from his book before continuing. “Talia’s going to be okay. Wes and Kyla promised to keep an eye on her, and if anything comes up, there’s a whole SEAL Team ready to help out.”
“I know.” Sighing, Lennox rested his head back on the couch. “But I still don’t like the idea of her being alone. You didn’t see the look in her eyes when she realized that the people she works for might be involved in Anna’s disappearance. I’m worried she’s going to do something stupid, like poking her nose into Bogdan Rybak’s business.”
Over by the built-in bookcase, Simon turned to look at him, dark eyes curious. “Isn’t Bogdan Rybak that Belarusian politician that some of you guys did a security detail for a little while ago?”
“Wait a second,” Darwin interrupted before Lennox could answer. “Is this about that call you got from her when we were at Colt and Kira’s the other night? The one from the police station.”
“Oh, yeah! That’s right,” Kirk said, forgetting the soccer game and turning all his attention to Lennox instead. “Talia is the woman that you’ve been trying to get to go out with you, isn’t she? What happened at the police station?”
Lennox quickly gave them a recap of everything that had happened with Talia and Anna, and the suspicions they had about the Rybak’s and Fredrickson’s.
“This might be a coincidence, but isn’t it a little odd that Anna supposedly went home to Bolivia, which is barely fifty miles from where the CIA sent us?” Darwin mused when he finished.
Lennox was leaning toward coincidence, especially since they knew for a fact that Anna had never been on that flight. But the truth was, they didn’t know enough to say what was going on.
