Page 48 of Shadow Target
Dev glared at Luke and then turned her attention back to Willow. “Not anymore. Luke has insisted that he take the second bedroom of my condo and stay with me from now on until this thing is resolved. I didn’t want it,” she bit out, “but he told me that’s the way it’s gonna be for now.”
Luke gave her an apologetic look. “It’s only temporary,” he told Dev.
Willow could feel the edgy anger bubbling up in Dev. She knew of her friend’s choice to not have anything to do with a man. She was sure that Luke pushing himself onto her turf, into her home, was chaffing her friend raw. No wonder she was looking angry and upset. Now, Willow knew why. Luke seemed deeply affected by her reaction to him and his decision. He couldn’t possibly know why Dev was reacting like that toward him, know about her terrible childhood. It wasn’t personal. She was that way with all men: Not wanting to be touched by them, approached by them, or have them in any close vicinity to herself except in a professional capacity. Plus, Willow was sure that, while Luke knew some of Dev’s background, there was no way he knew ALL of it. And in her case, the devil was in the sordid, heart-wrenching details. She couldn’t imagine Dev’s emotions right now, having a strange man living in her condo with her. Willow hoped she’d get a chance later to talk with Dev because she looked miserable about the situation.
***
Willow knew that Shep was a day behind on his current construction project due to the near kidnapping. He’d called in by sat phone to his second-in-command, an Ethiopian civil engineer, and gotten a status report on the ongoing creation of security measures at Addis Zemen. She was relieved for him that work was continuing on schedule, without any delay. After the call, just like that, Shep moved in with her. Not that he had much to move in with. Her condo had two bedrooms, and he put his few belongings in the spare one. There was a comfort in having him in her condo. It wasn’t putting her in an untenable situation, unlike Dev’s.
She felt sorry for Dev. She just couldn’t trust men. And, even though Luke was someone she could totally rely on, her past experiences got in the way of her seeing him as a protector instead of a perpetrator. She viewed him through the same dark lens that she’d seen every man through since escaping abuse at the hands of a male family member. Willow wished Dev could somehow overcome those awful experiences and get into a wonderful, loving relationship with the right man. Right now, Dev was angry and defensive toward Luke. He tolerated it, and Willow saw that he was gentle and sensitive toward her friend’s needs as much as he could be under these stressful circumstances. That was good because Dev hated big, bruising, egotistical males. Those were of the sort that had hurt her so badly as a child. She couldn’t handle being around that kind of man. Thankfully, Luke was quiet, intelligent, super-susceptible toward her moods, and Willow felt that, over the next few days, Dev would settle down and grudgingly accept him temporarily as part of her life.
Willow wanted to get out of the condo and fly. Despite her newfound feeling of coziness with Shep, being cooped up here was driving HER crazy. Shep was on the phone constantly with his assistant in Addis Zemen, always busy at the kitchen table scattered with legal pads, pens, and his ever-open laptop, engaged and focused. Luke had promised he’d give them an update tonight and that couldn’t come too soon. Being grounded frustrated her as little else could. She lived to be in the air, and each moment away from the cockpit grated on her every nerve. Willow was sure Dev felt the same.
Luke sat with everyone at Shep and Willow’s kitchen table. It’d been going on ten p.m. when he’d knocked on their condo door. Dev had come with him, albeit at a distance. Willow wasn’t happy to see Dev take a seat on the opposite side of the table from Luke. It was apparent that she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. And Dev’s mood hadn’t improved at all. Willow’s heart ached for her good friend. No one needed this kind of ongoing stress.
Luke opened his tablet. “According to the interrogation completed by General Hakym’s unit, the four prisoners were more than forthcoming. They were child soldiers under David’s command in the Darfur region of the Sudan for many years. Hakym’s men were taught interrogation techniques by U.S. Intelligence; they befriended them, gave them food, something to drink, cigarettes, and then just listened. These four men had been terrified that they were going to be shot by the Ethiopian Army on the spot. It was easy for the unit to bargain with them for intel.”
“But they’re going to prison?” Willow demanded.
“Yes, military tribunal will decide their fate. It’s out of our hands. They’re off the street, so to speak, and will hopefully never be able to rejoin David or any other terrorist group.”
“Good to know,” Shep agreed, sitting across from Willow at the table. “What’s the bottom line, Luke?”
“That David was after either Dev or Willow. He wanted a female American captive to give to his warlord in Somalia: a certain Cunar Hanad. David is very tight with Hanad, apparently. The capture of Willow yesterday, had it been successful, would have taken her into Somalia. She would have been dragged before Hanad and gifted to him by David. This is David’s way of showing how important he is to the terrorist organization Hanad runs. Everyone in it, apparently, is seeking out an American woman to capture. But it goes deeper than that,” and he frowned, scrolling the screen with his finger. “It doesn’t even matter which terrorist organization it is. They are all targeting American women.”
“So, they’re after something new to shock the world with,” Willow added. “Because these assholes have already beheaded American and European men lending aid to the Syrian people over in the Middle East.”
Nodding, Luke said, “Yes. But even years before that? An Irish woman who ran a charity in Afghanistan was captured and murdered by terrorists over there. But it wasn’t on video. Now, according to our prisoners, there’s a powerful push across the Middle East to capture a white American woman. That’s their best-case scenario, for obvious reasons, but the order has gone out that a European woman will do, too. But an American is preferred.”
Dev growled, “What? So, they can behead one of us on video and then spray it all over the internet?”
Luke grimaced and nodded. “Afraid so.”
“It will happen,” Shep said quietly. “It’s only a matter of time. There’s too many American women reporters in and around Syria. One of them could be easily captured.”
“God, I hope not,” Willow said. She searched Luke’s unreadable features, but she could see he had his game face in place. “So, David was trying to stand out in the terrorist packs by capturing me?”
“Yes, that’s what General Hakym thinks. Wyatt Lockwood has received all the interrogation intel via encrypted email. His people are pouring over everything. I talked to the general about an hour ago and he feels that David, being the violent upstart that he is, was trying to impress his warlord boss.”
“Again, what’s the bottom line?” Shep prodded Luke.
“Consensus at the moment is that this was an anomaly, Shep. That David did this on his own. These soldiers have been with him since age nine out in Darfur. They know him pretty well. There’s no known order from Hanad to David to capture Willow or Dev. He’s a loose cannon in their organization and often does unexpected things. Sometimes, they work out in his favor, and sometimes, not. In this case: not. He failed.”
“Okay,” Willow said, “will any of this make Artemis keep us here on the job then?” That’s all she cared about.
Luke pushed his fingers through his military-short blond hair, giving Dev and her an unsure look. “Based upon what I’ve seen of the interrogation? And talking to the general? I would think that Tal Culver MIGHT change her mind and allow both of you to remain here.”
Willow’s shoulders dropped, the tension bleeding out of her. She saw Dev look relieved. “Was that your final recommendation to Wyatt, then?” she pressed.
“Yes,” he admitted, hesitant. “They’re still gathering data on David and his attacks around Ethiopia. Until all that’s in, I’m not sure what Artemis, or Tal Culver will decide. But my opinion and belief is you can stay, fly and continue on mostly as you were before.” He held up his hand, frowning. “But that means you two get really good on the firing range with a pistol until it’s muscle memory. It means you are shadowed by at least one Artemis security person from the minute you leave this condo, go to the airport, fly to your destination, land back at Bahir Dar, and drive back to your condo. You can no longer NOT have a bodyguard.’
“I can live with that,” Dev growled defensively at Luke. She twisted her head, pinning Willow with a glare. “How about you?”
“Yeah, I’m fine with the extra layer of security. That’s not a problem.”
“Good,” Luke said with a sigh. “All of this intel is with Artemis. Tomorrow, sometime, they’ll call me, and I’ll let you know their final decisions.” He looked at his watch. “It’s a seven-hour difference between us and Artemis, in Alexandria, Virginia. I expect we’ll hear from Wyatt around six p.m. tomorrow night, eleven a.m. their time, same day.”
***