Deep in sleep, a rarity for him, Sam came alert hard as stone from her cleaning him.
She’d found that funny.
She stopped smiling as soon as he’d flipped the rag away and gave her round two of a relaxing massage.
For the first time ever, he wanted time off.
That would blow Nitro’s mind.
The shower noise ended, then a few minutes later Hailey emerged. “Good morning. Again.”
He liked the happy in her voice and turned to lean back against the dresser. “It’s a hell of a morning when I wake up to you. I like this picture.”
Her blond hair curled as it dried naturally. She had no makeup on. When she dolled up, she could hang with any model. Without makeup, she had the kind of beauty that came from somewhere inside a person, the kind that bloomed on the outside from a good heart.
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “I look like a drowned rat again.”
He crossed the room and slid his hands into her hair, drawing her in for a kiss. Man, he’d never get enough of that mouth. Even when it was snapping at him.
Her hands clutched his sides, holding tight.
When a woman touched a man that way, she made him feel like he was hers. That he could do anything.
Then hewantedto do anything for the woman holding his heart.
After a couple sips of her lips, he pressed his forehead to hers, hating to lose this moment. “We need a car.”
“I’ll just get another one and I’m not using my real ID, so we’re fine.”
“Did you use that ID on the last two cars?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Yes. I didn’t think about that, but I don’t think they found me that way.”
“Look at me.” He waited a beat because he wanted her to stay with him on this. “I think they knew where you were because of going to the meet at the marina.”
“Me, too.” She sounded gloomy. “If that’s the case, my intelligence on the Collector just went out the window.”
“The Collector?” Sam questioned.
She gave him an odd glance. “Yes. Who were you looking for in Venezuela?”
Well, damn. They weren’t even looking for the same bad guy. “We have a missing senator and believe an international terrorist leader named W has him. The Collector might have been contracted to grab the senator, but he’s never been known to be involved with terrorists.”
Her eyes were distant for a second. “I have not heard of a US senator missing.”
Sam had hammered her on sharing intel. He had to do the same for them to join forces. “No one can know that Senator Turner has been snatched. He must be present at a meeting that has been secretly in the works for months or a potential international conflict could arise if he fails to show. One side will take it as a sign that everything he has said up to now were lies to stall and mislead one party.”
She opened her mouth then closed her lips.
“What?” Sam asked.
“I was going to ask which countries, but it does not matter. Not with Phoebe’s life on the line, a senator to find, and time running out.” She sat on the bed and frowned with a thoughtful expression. “I’m not familiar with W.”
They had to put these pieces together. But how? Sam wished for Moose’s ability to sort through intel.
She quietly suggested, “I know my resource hacking Kovac’s computer is compromised, but if I contact my techie with this information, he might come up with something useful on the senator. That Russian guy might be W.”
Sam scratched the beginning of a beard on his cheek. “I think you’re right based on what you told me because I thought we were talking about the same person. Still do. We don’t have a visual on the Collector either. No one in our business is going to be happy to learn the Collector could be working with W.”
