“She saved my life and helped me kill most of them.”
The general stood there for several moments in silence. “Do you have any idea who she is? Azami Yoshiie is part owner of one of the biggest companies in the world. Countries, governments would kill for their satellites. She’s amassed a fortune, and it’s said that every person working for her is loyal and can’t be bribed. Believe me, there isn’t a government that hasn’t tried to get their hands on that software through every means possible.”
“Are you trying to warn me that if I marry her, my government may come to me and ask me to steal documents for them? I will have nothing to do with her company. I’m a soldier, sir, like you, and I’ll always be a soldier, certainly not a corporate spy.”
“You have the brains to work with her,” General Ranier pointed out. “You do. You always have. You could do anything at all, Sam.”
Sam realized that the general was telling him it was okay with him if he left the military and went into the private sector. For the first time, he was aware that the general, as gruff and incapable of showing affection as he was, really cared for him. He worried like any other father might.
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate you thinking that I could. I’m happy doing what I do. I’m good at it. I fit in here with this team. And I fit with Azami. We’ll find a way to make it work.”
“Some women are content with part of a man. They understand that we’re just as married to our unit and our buddies as we are to them. They know they won’t know where we are or what we’re doing half the time, only that it’s dangerous work. Other women have to be a full partner. You have to know which kind you’re thinking of marrying, Sam. If it’s the wrong kind, you’ll never make it.”
“She’s a GhostWalker, sir,” Sam said. “She’s a soldier, just like I am. She understands what and who I am, and I understand her.”
“She’s a citizen of Japan, and that’s where her loyalties lie,” General Ranier pointed out.
Sam opened his mouth to protest and then closed it. He knew what his foster father was implying-that Azami couldn’t be trusted with the knowledge of such a highly controversial program as the GhostWalkers. “Sir, you aren’t hearing what I’m saying. She isn’t just a woman trained for combat. She’s literally a GhostWalker. She’s one of Whitney’s experiments.”
General Ranier studied Sam’s face as if he might be trying to tell a bad joke. “That’s impossible. That girl’s been investigated by everyone who could possibly investigate her. She has a family in Japan. A father, two brothers…”
“She was adopted just as her two brothers were.”
“I know that,” Ranier snapped impatiently. “But she was a child when she was adopted.”
“Briony, Jack Norton’s wife, was adopted. So was Tansy, Kadan’s wife. That’s not unusual for Whitney, is it? We don’t know how many others are out there.”
“Is she an anchor?”
“She has to be. She has no trouble at all with the overload of psychic energy. She lived in the middle of a martial arts school and a sword-making shop. She meets with people all over the world for Samurai Telecommunications without a problem.”
“This is a problem, Sam,” General Ranier said. “If she’s an experiment of Whitney’s, she could be a plant.”
Sam shook his head. “No, I’d know. She wouldn’t be able to hide it from me. When I say we fit together, I mean our minds, not just our bodies. She’s in me and I’m just as deep inside of her. For a short period of time we might be able to hide things from one another, but not for long. It just couldn’t happen.”
“You’re so sure of her, then?”
“Yes, sir. Absolutely sure of her. I know she’s right for me.”
“What of this pairing Whitney seems to do with the GhostWalkers? Is there a possibility that he’s managed to do that to you?”
“Maybe it’s possible he paired her with me-he certainly could have when he enhanced me-but she was already gone when he got his hands on me. He couldn’t possibly have paired me to her. What she feels is genuine and I don’t think he can manipulate emotion. Physical attraction, yes, but not emotion. And I definitely feel emotion for her.”
The general nodded. “Then bring her home to your mother. And do it when I can get home.” The last was said quite gruffly, as if it was stiff and awkward to admit that he cared enough to meet his future daughter-in-law as well.
“I’ll do that, sir,” Sam assured.
General Ranier gripped Sam’s shoulder hard and then turned and walked out, hurrying back to his helicopter.
Azami waited in the hall for Sam. He was never one to miss an opportunity when they were alone. He caught the nape of her neck in a firm grip and leaned in to kiss her. She melted into him without a hesitation. The taste of her was even better than he remembered.
“A man could get lost in you far too fast, woman,” he accused.
She smiled at him, that soft, mysterious smile. “Tell Ryland I can help.”
“He’ll never take you with us.”
“I don’t want to go with you.” She frowned. “Okay, that’s not exactly the truth, I’d like to be at your side, but I think I can be of more help here. Just tell him we can snag a satellite or two and give him unbelievable data while you’re all in the field. We’ll be able to tell him how many players, where they are, and if you’re running into a trap. We have audio capability…”
“They’ll be scanning for radio traffic,” Sam said.
“Of course, but all they’re going to hear are the sound of insects and maybe the flutter of wings. If there’s rain, they’ll hear that.”
“How is that possible?”
Her smile widened and her lashes fluttered just that little bit, enough to tell him she had fascinating secrets he would spend a lifetime learning. “Eiji handles the lens. Daiki loves code. I prefer everything auditory.”
He should have known. She had an enormous IQ, just as her brothers did. She’d attended the best schools and graduated with honors. Of course she was more than the bodyguard.
“You can communicate in fifteen second bursts. Anyone listening in will hear the exact same sounds they normally hear in their surroundings. Basically the audio is being recorded and played back for anyone listening in during those fifteen seconds of communication. I had to find a way to keep human voices off the loop, and you can’t go beyond those fifteen seconds or the natural sounds begin to deteriorate.” She shrugged. “I’m still working with it, but I’ll perfect it eventually. For now, it will give us the ability to assist you from here.”
“Rye will need a demo. He’s not going to take a chance on anything,” Sam said.
“We came here to give you a demo, so all to the good. I’ll need Daiki and Eiji. I also need to set it up as quickly as possible. I know they’ve probably given you a couple of extraction points, but just in case, I’d like to have another backup plan. I’ll need to leave for a short period of time to make certain everything is in place.”
Sam frowned. She was telling him the truth-yet not the whole truth. “I need you here to help protect Lily and Daniel. Once our team leaves, there will only be a couple of men here in the compound. Team Two is close and they’ll come if there’s trouble, but I’ll feel better knowing you and your brothers are here.” He knew he was being presumptuous to expect the Yoshiies to stay in the compound with most of the team gone.
“My brothers will be here and I’ll return as quickly as possible.”
Both turned as the rush of energy heralded a GhostWalker coming down the hallway. “Ryland needs you in the war room now,” Tucker said.
Sam stepped back from Azami, allowing his fingers to brush across her shoulder as he turned away from her.
He heard her laughter in his mind, filling him with warmth as he walked away from her. That was what he found the most amazing-how she made him feel so complete. He wasn’t looking at her, but she was there with him, sharing an intimate moment no one else even saw.
