Page 37 of Laura's Truth
“Why shouldn’t I do that?”
He gestured toward the door. “Why haven’t you done it already?” Making her mull that over was his only leverage, weak as it was, and they both knew it. “Hackett is probably wondering the same thing.” He saw that reality sink in as her bravado faded.
“I know you have electronics and tools in that bag you pulled from the trunk.” She sat up, rubbing her palms up and down her thighs. “If I searched your car, I’m sure I’d find more.”
“Help yourself. I’ve been planning this for a long time. Taking care of Hackett was never intended as a one-way trip.”
“So let’s take advantage of the time we have and make the right plan.”
“Just like that you’re on my side?”
She started to stand and thought better of it, kept her seat. “I want to see justice served. For Ross’s team.” She swallowed. “And for you too.”
“Looks like I chose well when I married a wanted woman.” She sneered at him, but he saw the quirk at the corner of her mouth. It made him want to kiss her until she really smiled. At him.
“I should call my boss and start clearing this up.”
“Hackett’s waiting for that,” he said.
“Says you.”
“Says everything that’s happened today,” he shot back. The chime sounded at the door and put a cork in his brewing temper. “Stay here, out of the light,” he said, going inside to answer it.
He paid cash, and his stomach rumbled as the aromatic scents of food filled the room. When the deliveryman left, she joined him at the table inside as a cool breeze kicked up and music and voices rose from the poolside bar. For a time, they ate in silence with the sounds of the ocean floating through the open balcony doors.
She pushed the remnants of fried rice around her plate and then set down her fork and leaned back. The temporary reprieve was over. “You’re awfully sure Hackett has someone monitoring my office communication.”
Drew thought she was pretty sure too, or she would’ve called her boss by now. He was grateful she hadn’t taken the risk. They were safe for the evening and he was tired from the long days of hyper-vigilance. “Like me, he’s kept an eye on everyone tied to that day. He wouldn’t have been able to profit so well from selling out people and secrets if he hadn’t.”
“How did you manage to stay off his radar?”
“Staying dead was my only option,” he said with a hitch of his shoulders. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy. It was still more of a challenge when I figured out Hackett was behind that screw up. For a long time, all I wanted was his head on a platter.”
“Why did he try to kill you in the first place?”
“Took me a couple of years to figure that out.” Knowing he had to give her answers didn’t make the process of talking about it any easier. “I need you to make me a promise,” he began. “You can’t leave after I tell you. Until we have a net around Hackett, we have to assume he has the upper hand.”
“Drew—”
“I need your word. Hackett is the worst kind of traitor.” Drew reached out to touch her, then thought better of it and pulled back, twisting his napkin in his hands. “I won’t have your death on my conscience.” He rolled his shoulders back and held her gaze, waiting. “And I won’t let him execute his plans.”
She stared back without flinching, her face somber. “Whatever you tell me tonight, I’m not going anywhere.”
The resolve in her voice loosened the knot of guilt in his chest. Whether that resolve stemmed from her own dedication to justice or a growing trust didn’t matter to him right now. He knew she wanted the details, deserved the details, of that busted mission. He longed for a few more minutes but knew it wouldn’t help. It seemed no matter how far he traveled from that day, it could still reach out and terrorize him.
“I know most of the gory details,” she said, reaching for her glass of water. “Ross gave a thorough report. You don’t have to relive every minute.”
No wonder she’d been successful in counterintelligence. Her intuition ranked right up there with her sky-high clearance level. “I wish that were true.”
“Well, you don’t have to relive it out loud.”
He caught the small half-smile on her face just before it disappeared. Pity or sympathy would’ve set him off, but he didn’t see either in her expression. Her hazel eyes were brimming with the quiet understanding of someone who’d experienced tragedy and trauma firsthand. Someone who’d survived but understood some of life’s moments couldn’t be unseen or outrun.
He pushed his plate away and wished for something stronger than the water in his glass as he told her what she didn’t know.
“A standard meeting went to hell so fast. One minute it’s ‘how are the wives?’ the next it’s explosives and smoke.” His lungs burned with the memory of nearly suffocating. “The IED was in the wall behind my chair. It didn’t go off properly. Understanding that was the key. The damn bomb malfunctioned.”
He appreciated her silent patience while he searched for the right words to explain his miraculous escape. “There were plenty of men in traditional clothes. Dead or dying all around me. I swapped clothing with one of them…” A man he’d considered a friend. “Left the things that could confirm my ID and then dragged the body closer to the flames. I remember thinking it’s what he would’ve wanted.”