“Getting captured, tortured, almost raped, and killed isjusta problem?” he said, irritated at her description.
She lifted a shoulder, appearing cool and confident. “He would never have raped me. I might have died in the blast or if he shot me, but he would not have gotten any farther than his first attempt.”
Gutsy woman, but crazy too. He had the worse luck with women these days. He faced a sexy female who had his body humming just by listening to her voice but who also might have cost him his position with HAMR Brotherhood if he couldn’t convince Logan for a second chance.
That alone was the reason she wasted her time coming here.
He was not taking one step out of Clercville and destroying his last chance with Logan.
She tapped the weapon against her thigh. “Don’t you want to find the kidnapper?”
“Of course, I do. But I can’t do anything without informing my team.”
“Why aren’t you with them now? I assume you suffered an injury and were sent home to heal. Am I right?”
“This isn’t my home. My personal business is not part of this conversation. I’m not going with you. If you’re willing to share information with my team, you’ll have the best chance at rescuing your person.”
“That won’t work.” She cocked her head with a new thought. “If this isn’t home, then you won’t care if anyone comes here hunting me, correct?”
His heart hit his feet.
He sat up and she tensed.
He didn’t care. In a deep warning tone, he asked, “What exactly are you saying?” No more Mr. Nice Guy. Just like Nitro said, this woman was an operative.
That could mean she was the enemy.
Her fingers on the weapon remained relaxed, but she handled it with confidence and could pull it up quickly. “I have a system in place that tracks everywhere I go. If I do not post an update at specific times, which are different every day, someone will come hunting me. That person will send a team and not stop until they learn what happened to me. They will turn over every rock and interrogate everyone along the way. The last time I posted a location was this one.”
What the hell? He unfolded his arms. His hands clenched into fists against the hull. He needed something to beat into a pulp. Not her. He wouldn’t harm a woman but shaking some sense into her brain might happen. “You’d put civilians at risk? What kind of operative are you?”
That got her back up. She leaned forward and said, “I’m someone who willnotstop until I find who I’m looking for!” Her eyes flared with the fury of an avenging angel. “Do not test me or cross me. Iaskedyou to do this first, but I would not come here without a way to get what I want. Know this. If you don’t have the backbone to join me then I’ll continue alone. If I am successful, then no one will show up here. If I am not, you were warned, and nothing will stop the people who come hunting me.”
His heart was using his chest for a punching bag.
What to do? What to do?
No good ideas. If he turned her down and contacted Nitro, what could he tell him that would be of any use?
Nothing.
Even if he stayed in Clercville, he couldn’t protect everyone twenty-four-seven.
That would leave Angie and this cove open to a possible black ops team coming through hunting this woman because based upon her last attempt to rescue her person in Venezuela, she’d likely end up dead next time.
Gut check time. He had one sure way to keep this cove safe and get intel. He’d be the only one to lose.
Maybe if he found W and the senator, Logan would understand his reason for leaving without authorization. That was a big maybe. Logan’s teams ran like precision clockwork because no one took off on their own.
He swallowed, frantically trying to come up with a second option. None. “I’ll go.” Those two words burned his throat. To go with her meant handing Logan the last straw.
“Wise decision.” She tilted her head at him as if giving him a thumbs-up. “Don’t play me. I will know if you contact your team or tell anyone here that you’re leaving. You can’t tell even the woman who runs the bed and breakfast.”
Now he was in a nasty mood. “It’s aninn. I’ll have to tell her something. Just so you don’t think I’m playing you, as you put it, I’m sure my team has a camera somewhere watching the inn. They’re keeping an eye on me just in case someone likeyoushows up. I have no idea where the camera is, but I’m giving you full disclosure.”
She moved her shoulders enough for him to think she’d shrugged. “We play roles in our work. You and I will play the role of leaving together as a couple for some time alone.”
He no longer cared that she was hot.
