Targeted

Chapter 23

To go private: to retire.

Jack tapped his finger against Wesley’s desk. He’d been away from Sophie too long, and his boss still hadn’t let him contact her. They’d flown to one of the NSA’s branches in Georgia, and he’d been on lockdown for the past twenty-four hours. Wesley hadn’t even let him take a shower, which in the big scheme of things wasn’t important. At least he wasn’t going to be arrested. He deserved it, but considering how many times he’d put his ass on the line, he simply couldn’t apologize for saving the woman he loved.

The woman who was very angry with him. He scrubbed a hand over his day-old stubble. How could she have thought he’d just let her die? After everything they’d shared?

He swiveled at the sound of the office door opening. Wesley gave him a curt nod. “Come on.”

“Is Sophie okay? Where is she?” he asked as they strode down the hall.

“She’s fine. She and Miss Young are done debriefing and I had someone escort them to Sophie’s place.”

“What about—”

“They don’t know it, but I’ve placed two armed guards in a car across the street.” Wesley jerked the conference room door open and motioned for Jack to enter.

Giving Sophie an armed guard was probably unnecessary, but it eased the growing tension in Jack’s shoulders. He hated being away from her. Especially now. He needed to clear the air so that she understood exactly what she meant to him and what his intentions were. Maybe he should have told her how he felt in the hotel. Just admitted he loved her. But yeah, he’d been scared of her rejection after he admitted who he really was. Okay, he’d been terrified.

He took a seat next to Wesley as a female analyst pulled up images on three of the various flat screens against the wall. One was a satellite view of what he guessed was Africa if the terrain was anything to go by. The other was a satellite view of a rain forest. Maybe South America. The third was a list of flight records. “What’s all this?”

“Images from the files Chadwick gave you. We’ve also torn apart his computer at work and I’ve got a team at his apartment now. There isn’t much. He covered his tracks better than we expected.”

“That Africa?” He nodded to one of the images.

“Yep. That’s one of Abu al-Ramaan’s training camps even we didn’t know about. With the information from Chadwick, we’re now aware of his movements over the past six months.”

“Have you briefed the CIA?”

“Yes, but this isn’t why I called you in here.” He tilted his head at the woman in the room. Without pause she exited, leaving them alone.

“What’s up? Decide you want to arrest me after all?”

“Push it and I just might. I wanted to let you know we’ve got a lead on Levi. He’s using an old alias—Marcus Tirado. Just got wind that he’s surfaced in Odessa.”

“What’s he doing there?”

“Don’t know. The CIA is putting a team together and they’ve asked for you to piggyback.”

Part of Jack wanted to hunt Levi down for nearly getting Sophie killed—and oddly enough, to help him out of whatever he’d gotten into—but neither reason was worth it. At one time it would have been. Not now. Getting back to Sophie was all that mattered.

“You’re not going to take the job, are you?”

“No.”

Wesley cleared his throat and gave him that father look he was accustomed to. “You’re not going to be taking any more jobs.” It wasn’t a question.

“Sorry, boss. I’m done. For now anyway.” He couldn’t rule out coming back in the future, but right now the only thing he wanted in his future was Sophie.

“She’s really worth it?”

Jack didn’t bother with a response. Sophie was worth everything.

Sighing, Wesley dug into his pants pocket and handed his car keys to Jack. “I have no one but myself to blame, I guess. Go back to my place and get a shower. You smell like a donkey. I might see you tonight. If not, be here at seven sharp. Your woman will be here.”

Jack paused, unsure he’d heard right. “What are you talking about?”

“She’s left a handful of nasty messages threatening to cut off my balls if I don’t tell her where you are.”

“Sophie actually said that?”

Wesley grinned. “Not exactly, but it was definitely implied.”

The painful vise around Jack’s chest slackened an inch. If she was worried about his well-being, they could work things out. Either that or he was going to make love to her until she forgot all about why she was so angry with him. Until she couldn’t breathe without scenting him on her.