“Oh, goodie,” she said sarcastically. “I was beginning to think I’d made a mistake.”
Where was Lily? Amber wished her friend hadn’t left her in this predicament. Brad was playing protector and Hawk was…well, she didn’t know what Hawk was doing. She wasn’t even sure why she felt she had to explain the situation to him. She didn’t owe him anything.
But she didn’t want Hawk to think that she was the kind of woman who would play around. Somehow, it was important that he respect her. It suddenly struck her as odd that she wanted him to meet Brad and Lily, her two close friends, and get along with them. It was so totally out of character for her to do this, and Brad knew because he was looking at her like she had grown another head.
She couldn’t explain it to herself, so how could she do a good job of it for Brad? She did the next best thing—let Brad and Hawk meet. So far, Brad had been predictably careful, almost like a big brother giving subtle warnings. Hawk—she had to hide a smile—didn’t seem afraid or care about making any impression. In fact, he was acting like he had the right to be in her kitchen, eating dinner here. He looked too comfortable sitting there, wearing her T-shirt, one that looked big on her but fit him snugly, stretching over those broad shoulders that she knew were corded with muscles, fitting around that hard body that had been on top of her own not too long ago. Damn, why did she have to think of that now? The man looked too good in that shirt. And she wanted it off.
The glint in Hawk’s eye told her he knew what she was thinking about. He had accepted the story about her and Brad’s façade as a couple without making any personal comments, and throughout dinner he sat listening quietly as she gave a brief outline about what she and Lily were doing. She didn’t give the full version, just enough details so that he understood where she stood as far as Dilaver was concerned.
“That’s why I’ll help you locate the item you want,” she said. “Anything that will eventually bring an end to Dilaver’s control of this region is good.”
“Is that a yes as my guide, then?”
Amber nodded. “That’s also why I need Brad and Lily to know what’s going on. I’m the facilitator to both operations and when I’m gone with you, someone will have to take over certain details. We’ll have to make up some story about my being missing at the same time that you are. This is where Brad comes in.”
Hawk looked at Brad. “How?”
“I’m slated to go on vacation in about ten days,” Brad told him, “and I’ll take Amber with me. At least, that will be what Dilaver will think. If you take off a week after that, Dilaver won’t suspect Amber’s in on this.”
“A little over two weeks,” Hawk said, thinking quickly. “That should be enough time to get all the coordinates of his dropoff points and map out his gunrunning routes.”
“I’d like you to give me details of the latter,” Brad said. “If your people can’t stop him, I’ll get him for illegal arms-dealing.”
“How about illegal human-trafficking? From what Amber’s saying, I’m assuming you’re helping her because you can’t get him through your laws. Can’t be easy, what with all those peacekeepers being Dilaver’s customers and all.”
This time, there wasn’t any sarcasm in the tone of Hawk’s voice. Amber couldn’t help but admire how quickly he read between the lines and saw the situation for what it was. But she had to defend Brad, who didn’t seem inclined to explain that his hands were tied. “He arranged the interview so an outside party can report the extracurricular activities of some of the peacekeepers, Hawk,” she said.
“It’s a good strategy,” Hawk said, finishing the last of the roast from his plate. “I think it would be even better if you could arrange for an interview inside thekafena.Say, the interviewer poses as a client. He’d get firsthand experience.”
“That’s risky to the girls and the interviewer,” Brad said.
Hawk shrugged. “There’s always risk in our chosen line of work. If that guy wants a truly hot story, he’d want to go undercover and take some on-the-scene photos. Technology is so remarkable now, one can use any number of ways to get a photo and put it online.” He drank down more wine and his smile wasn’t very pleasant. “I’ll take great delight in taking some risk and getting the interviewer inside as my friend. That way he’ll have a before-and-after kind of story and perhaps there will be more international outrage to help your cause. I hate that…asshole.”
Amber sat back, a little stunned at how quickly Hawk had taken over. He was volunteering to put his life in danger to help those girls inside thekafenas.The other night, when he had persuaded her not to shoot at those men, she’d thought that he didn’t want to make waves and disrupt his covert operation, but now she was no longer sure.
Brad’s gaze was thoughtful. “So why don’t you get rid of him yourself?”
“Why don’t you?” Hawk challenged back.
“Ah…orders from above,” Brad said with a nod. “Looks like we’re in the same predicament. Something else we have in common.”
“Unlike you, I don’t have a whole department under me whom I can send out and cause some havoc,” Hawk pointed out, then muttered, “Not right now, anyway.”
“Meaning?”
Hawk paused, then shrugged again. “I have my connections. Dilaver will be taken care of eventually. Right now it’s essential for me to get the coordinates. If he’s terminated now, I can’t do that, so, in CIA parlance, he’s still an asset. But that doesn’t mean I can’t do a little damage my own way.” He glanced at Amber. “I want to be part of this. Some of those girls are in really bad shape. I couldn’t see how I could get them out of there before without compromising my cover.”
It wasn’t an exact revelation to Amber that Hawk had seen what went on in those places and hadn’t lifted a finger to help the victims, but seeing that look in his eyes, it suddenly dawned on her how much he had been fighting the urge, and the toll it must have taken on his spirit. She had seen the same look in Lily’s eyes, had watched her friend’s seething anger at her own inability to stop the crimes at their roots. Yet she and her friend had really only been standing at the edge, doing what they could. Hawk was in the center of it all.
“All right,” she said quietly, “if Brad and Lily have no objections, and if those newspeople want the inside story, we’ll do it.”
There was a short pause. Where the hell was Lily? Amber wanted to shake her friend, wondering whether there really was an emergency after all. This was so unlike her, especially when it had to do with the girls.
“So we have the next three weeks’ agenda,” Hawk said. “I’ll zero in on the coordinates. Sun will set up the interviews. You and Lily will work out the times for both of them. I’ll bring the men into thekafenasat the proper time when Dilaver isn’t watching too closely. Meanwhile, I also suggest that we set up a love triangle of sorts so that it appears that you’ll have reason to spirit Amber away from Velesta. It’ll give me a chance to get a bit upset about it and appear to take off. That should give Amber and me a head start without Dilaver suspecting.”
The man didloveordering people around, didn’t he? Amber looked at Brad to see how he was taking Hawk jumping in with all the suggestions. Not that she could tell. He had his poker face on, which meant he was thinking.
She turned back to Hawk. He was looking around expectantly. “What are you looking for?” she asked.
