Aaron stared at his watch,leaning against the wall just outside her room as he listened for any hint of trouble. Five minutes in and all he’d gotten was a cold sweat and silence.
How could he ever hope for her forgiveness if she’d been violated?
The thought of what she could have went through made him want to puke. What would he do? Would she even look at him? How could he expect her to?
He scrubbed a hand over his face and dropped his chin to his chest in silent defeat. He couldn’t expect anything out of her. All he could do was prey she’d survive this ordeal and go on to have a normal, happy life…with him.
But how could she? He’d held her petite body in his arms and knew she was fragile. Experienced operatives sometimes didn’t come out of ordeals like this intact, and he expected her to.
God, he’d been a fool. A blind, idiotic fool terrified of his past.
“Sir?”
Aaron straightened from the wall, his spine stiff. Sister Mary Catherine stepped from the room and tucked her hands beneath her gown, her weathered face a mask that for the life of him he couldn’t read. She waited for the other Sister toleave in silence.
Aaron waited until she was out of earshot before turning to Mary Catherine. “Was she?” He managed to croak out, his chest so tight it might crush his lungs.
Her expression didn’t shift at all. “No, it doesn’t appear there is any recent evidence of internal trauma.”
He collapsed, barely managing to hold back a rush of tears. “Thank God.”
“Recent doesn’t mean never. If she’s been held for a long time, we won’t know for sure until she regains consciousness.” The sister shifted closer to him and once more place a wrinkled hand on him. “She’s going to be out for a little while longer, I think. If you want a shower, please, feel free to use anything we have. I will personally stay with her.”
Aaron shook his head. “No. I’m not leaving her.”
He’d never leave her again. Not until she made him.
His phone chirped at his belt, signaling a call from command. Aaron glanced at it then at Celine’s door.
“She’s resting. Take your call and then go in, but be quiet. Don’t wake her until she’s ready.” Sister Mary Catherine gave him a reassuring squeeze and then left, giving him the privacy to take his call.
Aaron answered the phone. “Speirs.”
“Speirs, this is command. Report.” Col. Grey’s calm voice filled the phone.
“She’s been examined and is stable for now. She hasn’t woken yet.”
“When will she be ready for transport?”
“I don’t know yet. They just examined her for…life threatening injuries. I don’t think I’ll know for sure until she wakes.” Please let her be okay. Knees shaking at the thought, Aaron glanced at Celine’s door and then strode down the hallway, pacing in an attempt to get blood circulating back to his legs.
“You’re flying out tomorrow if Celine is stabilized by then. Got the helicopter ride to Uzbekistan, and then a hop to Germany where I'll have a private jet waiting to fly you both back to D.C. Right now, this is a classified mission. No one can know we've got her.”
Aaron kept walking, keeping Celine’s door within eyesight. “What about the Russian? Did he survive the fight?”
“No, looks like he caught more than one bullet. But we had enough to ID him. Sven Panchenko, works for a wealthy Russian aristocrat named Dmitri Stanislov. Sven is his buyer. Seems like Dmitri goes through slaves often. If Celine had ended up with him, well… Let’s just say, I'm glad she didn't.”
Aaron concentrated on not crushing the phone. “Too bad we can't pay him a little visit.”
“Sent his information to my contacts in the human trafficking task force, and I pressed upon them how important it is to national security that Dmitri be silenced.”
“What about Mr. J? And Caroline?”
Grey sighed long and hard through the phone.
“He was gone, wasn't he?”
“You’ve got to give it to that sneaky bastard. He's outrun death more times than a black cat with nine lives. The compound we raided had been deserted, except for a few servants who'd been hired by a go-between. No record of Mr. J ever having being there. As of right now we've got nothing to go on, but I'll keep you updated as I get new intel.”
