Honor Reclaimed (HORNET #2)

Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

Phoebe woke the following morning to a chorus of male groans followed by some good-natured cursing. She sat up in bed and glanced around, at first expecting to see Seth with her. The room was empty.

Right. After finding Emma’s photo, he’d walked out and never came back.

She swung her legs out of bed and muscles that hadn’t received a workout in a long time pulled tight, reminding her of last night. Seth’s hands on her. His mouth. His body…

No.

Honestly, she didn’t want the reminder.

She braided her hair and tied her scarf over the frizzy locks. One thing she loved about the country—the necessity to wear head scarves. Saved her loads of time getting dressed when she didn’t have to fight with her hair every morning.

She slipped into the hall and heard Seth’s voice among the others coming from the main room. She followed the sound.

Seth sat on the floor with Jean-Luc, Marcus, and Jesse, a deck of cards and piles of poker chips in front of them. Ian sat in the corner with his hand resting on Tank’s back, watching the game in silence. Gabe wasn’t in the room, but another man with dark hair and a beard was. An IV hung from a nail in the wall and drained into his arm. It must be Sergeant Zak Hendricks.

Seth’s pile of chips was the biggest, and the other three men were down to their last few. He was taking them to the cleaners, which was probably what all the groaning had been about. Good for him. After the way they’d all treated him, he deserved a little payback.

He spotted her, and his jaw clenched.

Okay. She drew a fortifying breath. Time to be an adult. Yes, last night had ended on a sour note, and she didn’t plan to sleep with him again, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still be friends, right?

She walked over and smiled at the group. “Poker?”

“Seth’s cheating,” Jean-Luc declared.

Seth scowled. “I don’t cheat.”

“Yeah, right. You hiding aces up your sleeve, for sure.”

“I’m not wearing sleeves.”

Phoebe did a double take. That was true—he wasn’t wearing sleeves, the scars on his arms bared to the world. It was the first time she’d seen him around anyone but her without his hoodie.

Jean-Luc eyed his T-shirt like he still didn’t believe it. “Then you workin’ some kinda voodoo, mon ami . Ain’t no other way.”

“No,” Seth muttered, “just an insomniac with nothing better to do at night.”

Jean-Luc glanced at Phoebe and grinned. “Ah, I bet you’ve got a cure for that insomnia, yeah?”

Before Seth could respond, Marcus threw down his cards. “I’m done. If we keep going, Ace is gonna take my shirt next.”

“Who says I’d want it?” Seth shot back.

Even though he had barely acknowledged her presence, warmth for him radiated through her chest. She liked seeing him banter with the group.

A few minutes later, Gabe strode in, and the chatter abruptly died. The men ended their game without finishing, and the entire mood in the room shifted from playful to all-business.

“All right, gentlemen,” Gabe said. “We’re going to do a quick briefing before we decamp.” His gaze settled briefly on Zak, who gave a slight nod. Gabe released a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “There’s something from Zak’s initial report I haven’t told you about. It was a conscious decision to keep it under wraps, but after debriefing Zak last night and speaking to Quinn via sat phone this morning, I realize it was a mistake.”

The bomb.

Crap, Phoebe had forgotten all about it until this moment. She looked at Seth, saw the same realization dawn across his face.

“Zak?” Gabe said. “Do you feel well enough to fill them in? You know more about this than I do.”

Even though he looked about a stone’s throw away from death, Zak nodded. “Someone help me sit up.”

Between Jesse and Marcus, they managed to pull him into a sitting position without jostling his ruined leg too much. By the time they had him settled against the wall with a pillow propped behind his back, he was breathing hard, and a fine sheen of sweat coated his forehead.

It was another moment before he spoke. “I don’t know how much Greer Wilde told you about my mission here, but I was basically put in place as a precautionary measure. My mom was born here. I know the language and the customs, so they sent me in to work for Siddiqui, hoping I could find something to prove his tie to several recent acts of terrorism—or, if all else failed, I was to remove him as a problem permanently. But when I got in there and discovered what he had planned…” He trailed off, obviously exhausted, and Gabe picked up the briefing.

“Cold War,” Gabe said. “You’re all familiar? Good, so you probably also know both sides have since admitted to producing compact nuclear warheads, several of which made their way into the black market after the collapse of the Soviet Union.”

“Jesus Christ,” Ian said. “Are we talking about The Suitcase here?”

“What’s The Suitcase?” Phoebe asked.

“Most suitcase-sized nukes aren’t very powerful,” Ian explained, “but that’s not the case with this one. It’s got enough juice to wipe out a small city, and that’s not including the fallout.” He looked at Zak. “I thought it was lost.”

Zak opened his good eye and shook his head. “No, it was never lost. It’s hard to keep track of because anyone can carry it anywhere. On a plane. In a government building. It’s virtually undetectable, even with recent advances in security. Its last known location was Transnistria, a breakaway republic of Moldova, which is still very much living in the Soviet era. They allegedly have huge amounts of Soviet ordnance stockpiled in factories across the republic, including several of the missing nukes and The Suitcase. Even worse, a known Tranistrian arms dealer, Nikolai Zaryanko, has been in talks with Siddiqui for weeks now. Zaryanko has no political agenda, no loyalties. He’s only out to make money and will sell to the highest bidder. And Siddiqui plans to be the highest bidder. They are going to make the trade in two days. We can’t let that happen.”

“Obviously,” Gabe said after a heavy moment of silence, “we’re not an anti-terror unit and don’t have the manpower to handle something like this, but Quinn has already tried to bring the situation to the military’s attention, and they’re not listening. So we’ll have to handle this and I’ve called in some help. A helo will be arriving within a half hour to take us to Kabul so we can get Zak to a hospital and plot our next move. Any questions?”

Nobody spoke.

All right, if they weren’t going to ask the obvious, Phoebe would. “If we have the proof that Siddiqui is not only involved in all of these horrible acts but also actively planning a terrorist attack, why not use my contacts and take the information to the press? Make it public, and he won’t be able to sneeze without someone watching. Won’t that stop him?”

Seth glared across the room at her. “I already told you why that won’t work.”

“Why? Because it will put me in danger?”

“Yes.”

“As opposed to the hundreds of thousands in danger if Siddiqui has possession of The Suitcase?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You’re not doing it.”

Exasperated, she faced Gabe. “I know you see my point.”

“I do,” Gabe said slowly, eying Seth as he spoke. He hesitated, which was so unlike the big man, she knew she’d already lost this argument before he opened his mouth again. “But it’s not a good idea. We just got you back, Phoebe. None of us are willing to risk your life again.”

Oh, he couldn’t be serious. “It shouldn’t be your decision whether I risk my life or not. And it’s not Seth’s decision either,” she added when Gabe sent another glance in Seth’s direction. “He doesn’t own me now that we’ve slept together. I make my own decisions.”

“Well, this just got more awkward than a gator at a crawfish boil,” Jean-Luc said with a whistle and stood. “I’m gonna go check if the helo’s runnin’ on Cajun time or if we actually got a schedule to keep. Y’all keep it civil, ya hear?”

The rest of the team followed him in quick succession, including Seth. Which left only her, Zak Hendricks, Ian, and Tank in the room. And poor Zak looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. He’d have walked out, too, if he could have.

Ian pushed to his feet and went to the door, Tank following him. He paused at her side. “Cut Seth some slack, okay?”

Still fuming, she stared at him in complete disbelief. “ You’re telling me to cut him some slack.”

“Yeah, I am. Look, I get it. Seth is a pain in the ass. But he’s being overprotective because he cares about you. A lot. More than I think he even realizes.”

Stunned, Phoebe opened her mouth, but Ian walked out before she could formulate a response. Groaning, she pressed her fingers to her eye sockets in an effort to relieve some of the building pressure there. “What an ass.”

“Interesting team you have here,” Zak muttered.

“They’re not mine.” She dropped her hand to her side and heaved out a breath. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. I’d like to say they’re not usually so dysfunctional, but they are.”

“Trust me, this circus is nothing. I’ve seen worse. Hell, my team all but wrote the book on dysfunction.” Zak chuckled, then winced as the motion jarred his injuries. “But for what it’s worth… I think you’re right. Going public could blow this thing wide open. Force the military to act.”

Phoebe blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to agree with her. “You do?”

“Absolutely. Siddiqui’s arrogant. He thinks he’s untouchable. Shining a light on his activities, exposing him to the world— it would rattle him. Make him sloppy.” Zak shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position. “It’s a gutsy move, but it could work. The problem is, Gabe and Seth aren’t wrong either. It would paint a huge target on you.”

Zak met Phoebe’s gaze, his dark eyes intense despite the pain clouding them. “If you decide to go forward with this, I’ve got some intel that could help. Names, locations, shipping manifests… The kind of hard evidence the press would need to run the story.”

Her pulse quickened. Finally, someone who understood the power of the media to expose the truth and force change. “You’d be willing to share that with me? Even though the rest of the team is against it?”

“I’m not part of this team.” His eye flashed “And I didn’t survive weeks of torture just to watch that bastard get his hands on a nuke. If going public can stop him, I’m all for it. Fuck what the others think.”

Phoebe’s mind raced with the possibilities. With Zak’s inside information, she could write an exposé that would send shockwaves around the world. Siddiqui’s operation would crumble under the scrutiny. The suitcase nuke would never reach his hands.

But the risks weighed heavily on her. Seth’s concern for her safety, while frustrating, was valid. She might have to go into hiding. Not only would she have to betray him—again—she may never be able to see him to explain herself.

She faced Zak, noting the gray color of his skin under all the cuts and bruises. The man was not doing well and needed proper medical attention fast. She hoped the helicopter would arrive soon.

“I want that intel, but only for a worst-case-scenario backup plan. Let’s see if the guys can do it their way first.”

Zak gave a slight nod. “Fair enough. But keep in mind, if things go sideways, it might already be too late to go public.”

Phoebe exhaled slowly. “I will. Thank you for trusting me with this, Zak. I know it’s not easy, considering…” She was going to finish that with “everything you’ve been through,” but thought better of it and let the words trail off.

“Considering you don’t have clearance for this intel, and I just met you?” he finished with a pained smile. “Yeah, well, desperate times. Besides, I have a sense about people. You strike me as someone who will do the right thing, no matter the cost to herself. Like I said, gutsy. I respect that.“

She walked over and crouched down beside him to check his IV. It was almost gone, and she wondered if she should tell Jesse. “How are you holding up? Do you need anything?”

He gave a weak smile. “Besides a ticket out of this hellhole and a full body transplant? Nah, I’m good.”

Phoebe chuckled despite herself. She genuinely liked this guy and hoped he’d be okay.

Just then, the rumble of an approaching helicopter filled the air.

Phoebe gave his arm a gentle squeeze before rising to her feet. She watched through the window as the helicopter touched down, kicking up a cloud of dust. “Well, looks like your ticket out just arrived.”

“Thank God for that.” Zak leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. “I’ve had about all the Afghan hospitality I can stand.” He shifted, wincing as the movement jostled his injured leg. He exhaled through gritted teeth. “Fuck. Worst souvenir ever. Pretty sure they’re gonna cut it off. I guess I’ll be going home with a little less baggage than I came with.”

She very much doubted that. The man was going to have an entire airline’s worth of traumatic baggage to unpack when he got home. “At least you are going home.”

“Yeah, there’s that,” he said softly, his voice thick. “I’m here because of Seth, you know? He’s the reason I’m alive right now.”

Oh God.

“Please don’t tell me the details. I don’t want to know.” She turned to leave. “Your IV bag is empty. I’ll go find Jesse.”

But she didn’t need to find him. He was already there, hovering in the hallway, obviously unwilling to stray far from his patient.

“Zak’s IV is empty.”

“I heard.”

She paused and studied the medic. “What else did you hear?”

“Enough.” He caught her arm, and his denim-blue eyes bore into hers with an intensity that made her stomach clench. “I know you think goin’ public is the right move. And maybe in a perfect world, it would be. But this ain’t a perfect world, darlin’. Far from it. You go down this path, there’s no comin’ back from it. Siddiqui will try to kill you, and if he succeeds, it will kill Seth as surely as a bullet to the heart. I saw him up there in the mountains when he thought you were dead. Don’t do that to him again. He’s been through enough.”

A knot rose hard and fast in her throat, and she exhaled in a rush to get rid of it. “If you heard everything, then you know I’ll only do it as a last resort.”

“Phoebe—“

She pulled from his grip. “I have to go pack.”