That was the best thing she’d heard yet.
Erin wrapped her arms around Riley and said a silent prayer glad they were both alive. Bruises would heal. They’d walked out of this alive so far and that was what mattered.
“GOD DAMN IT.” MARK hurled his phone out the window.
They couldn’t get to her now.
If it weren’t for that damn box or those men or the SUV or any number of things that were going wrong—this would be over with. Now, Erin Lopez and the rest were in custody. He wouldn’t be able to get to them unless they were charged, and he doubted that. NexGen wanted her out of the way, somewhere she couldn’t stir the pot, which meant she was bound for America.
“Sir?”
“What?” Mark whirled toward the man.
“No one has seen or heard from Thomas, so I checked with our local law enforcement contact, and it appears he was arrested at Erin Lopez’s home.”
Mark closed his eyes.
Another fucking thing going wrong.
Should he cut his losses?
He could cut his ties with America, wash his hands of the Middle East and go somewhere else. Couldn’t he? Not if the video got leaked. The list of places he could go to hide out for the rest of his miserable life would be short if the American government wanted to extradite him. And they’d have to. After the kinds of jobs Mark’s off-the-books team had done, the US would hang him out to dry to save face.
At this rate, Erin would be escorted to the airport and kept under watch until she could return to the states. Mark’s window of opportunity to nip this in the bud while on foreign soil was over with.
He had to take this home.
“Round up the team. Tell them we’re headed to the States. I want to send guys to her family, her friends, anyone she’s ever known. I want a list. We’re going to make this bitch come to us.” Mark snarled and paced out of the room.
He still had one card to play, but he couldn’t leave it all up to chance. With luck, he could pull this off, but he had to be prepared for things to end badly. Which meant he needed an escape plan for one and a place to go.
SUNDAY. BAKHTIARI POLICE Station, Erbil, Kurdistan.
Riley watched the paramedic press on Erin’s ribs once more. Her face creased, and she bit down on her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. He hated seeing her like this and wished there was something he could do to alleviate the pain. They were supposed to bring her home safe, not get her killed.
Fuck, they’d had a close call.
If they’d done one thing different, they could have both died and her blood would have been on his hands.
That first shot could have taken off his head. The second one could have hit something vital.
He should have been more careful. The whole damn time he’d been focused on the wrong thing. He’d stopped thinking of her as an asset at some point and forgotten that this was a job. Plain and simple. They weren’t friends. They weren’t even fuck buddies. What the hell had he been thinking, letting his dick get in the way of the job?
Erin’s eyes opened, and she stared at him. He’d screwed up and gotten too close to her. The lines between professionalism and something else were blurred. Right now, it felt like there were fishhooks in him, reeling him toward Erin. It took everything in him to remain standing where he was and not bolt from the room.
People died doing this job. The guys liked to brush off their near-death scrapes, but the truth was, there was no guarantee they were coming home. If he lost an asset because he stopped thinking like a team player and let lust get in the way, he’d never forgive himself. Didn’t he already shoulder enough blame?
Erin’s face creased in pain. He felt that flinch like a knee to his gut.
He’d let himself slide too far into this thing.
He liked her too much.
Which meant this had to stop. He needed distance.
So why wasn’t he walking out of here?
“You’re doing great.” Riley kept his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t let himself touch her. He couldn’t. If he did, then he might forget what the hell he was doing here.
“You told me everything would be fine. This is not fine. I’m going to have to take a point away.” Her voice was strained, and she sucked in several shallow breaths.
“I guess it depends on your definition of the word.” He mustered a smile while his insides twisted tighter. This was his fault. He hadn’t been careful enough. He could have done more. He should have anticipated the threat.
“You are not funny.” She braced her hands on the table and glanced at the medic.
The man stripped off his gloves and spoke to Erin in an easy tone. Riley couldn’t tell the difference between Arabic and Kurdish, so he stayed quiet while Erin and the guy chatted. He could leave, slip out while she was occupied, but he hadn’t. It only went to prove he was too messed up and turned around to watch out for her.
Case in point, Riley wanted to reach for her, to hold her hand and tell her it would all work out just fine. Everything inside him told him he should do just that. But he couldn’t promise her safety, and it wasn’t his place to offer physical comfort.
He didn’t want to explain to another mother how he’d failed. He didn’t want to be the one to tell Erin’s family how he’d fucked up and their daughter wasn’t coming home. Whatever this was they were doing, it had to stop. From here until they got to the States, he’d keep her safe. But that was it.
The medic’s tone changed, and Erin shook her head.
“What’s he saying?” Riley asked.
“Broken rib. He wants me to go to
