CHAPTER23
Rafe
We’d spent most of the time before I left the mountains in bed with Colby. My body was sated and loose, despite the danger I was riding into. This was what we’d been hoping for once we’d taken her from that gunfight. That one day we’d get to this point. She was relaxing with us, smiling. She seemed happy now that she’d decided to stay. Not just resigned to the situation, but genuinely happy to be with us. We were thrilled that she’d made that choice.
I hated to leave them. The more of us there to stand watch, the safer it was for us all. But I needed to take this trip. It didn’t matter what waited for me in Tikrit, it was imperative to find out which group we needed to set as our main target. We’d go after the second once this threat was extinguished.
I wasn’t about to let these assholes get near Colby again. We’d wipe them off the face of the planet. My gut was telling me Roj was our main culprit, as we suspected he’d been the one to lay that little trap that Colby and her team had been caught in.
Ayad grumbled at me as he lumbered along. We’d left the mountains behind and were heading south toward the smaller city of Tikrit. There I’d be able to reach my contacts. My rifle was strapped over my back and I kept a wary eye out around me. I didn’t need to be ambushed now that I was back down in the sandy dunes.
The trip was quick and easy—traveling alone while not being chased is surprisingly efficient—and the sun was just starting to dip below the horizon as I walked into the city. People were bustling through the streets, finishing up their daily activities before they lost the light.
I walked slowly along, searching each nook and cranny for any sign of trouble. As soon as I came to the building I was looking for, I slipped inside.
A local woman paused, nodding her head at me, then slipped behind a doorway. He must have hired her to help keep his house in order. I moved over into a small room and waited. He didn’t keep me long.
“Brother.”
I walked over and gave Brandon a hug that ended with us slapping each other on the back as hard as we could. “Brando. Good to see you.” Brandon was a CIA contact. He wasn’t, strictly speaking, supposed to talk to me. He had his mission here in Tikrit, embedded with the locals. But years ago we had saved his ass in another country, another mission. Now he was a goldmine of info.
“And you, my friend.” He frowned, his brown eyes turning wary. “You shouldn’t have come here, Rafe.”
“I know. We’ve got someone on our ass.”
He nodded. “Heard something about that.” He circled his finger in the air. “Talk around the city is that Roj is coming for you.”
I swore and shoved a hand through my hair. Really, there wasn’t one option that was better than the other, but at least with The Holy Order, they were bound to their cities. That’s why I suspected Roj to begin with. He was a cagey fucker and now we were going to have to outsmart him. We weren’t supposed to be fighting him yet.
“Heard anything else, friend?” He had tried, several times, to pull us into his network. Work off the books directly for the Agency. It was too restrictive though. I wasn’t big on being given orders. I preferred to be in charge.
Brandon had contacted me a few months ago when he and his team had gotten out here. They were on a sanctioned mission and weren’t going to be able to help with Roj, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t pass information. He was undercover in Tikrit trying to find a high priority target. That usually meant someone had gotten kidnapped. Knowing the Agency, it would be the daughter of some prince or warlord, and rescuing her would mean they could get a new alliance with that country. At least I knew it wasn’t Colby.
“Something big, Brother.” He shook his head, his dark brown hair standing up in spikes. When he went out he kept a scarf over it, but here in the home he’d arranged for he was dressed in our usual attire, black pants and t-shirt. I had on the same clothing the locals wore, to blend in, but as soon as I got my ass out of this city, I’d be back in them as well.
“Like what?”
He held up his hands in a shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine. The only thing we’ve heard is that The Asad is hunting a group of men and that he has been gathering supplies in a spot east of here.”
Roj didn’t deserve his nickname. He was more a weasel than The Asad—The Lion. I didn’t even know why that’d been assigned to him. Not that it mattered, it was just irritating that whoever was passing these names out couldn’t be more accurate.
“East of here,” I muttered, wondering where that could be.
“Oh. And that these men have a woman with them.”
My eyes flicked up and I groaned when I saw the shit-eating grin on Brandon’s face. “Not now, Brando.”
“Hey, fair exchange Rafe. Tell me the truth.”
Releasing a heavy sigh, I caved. “Her name is Colby.”
“Damn, you seriously have a woman with you guys? Is she a team member?”
I thought back to the other night when we realized that someone from up on the ridge was taking out some of the men who’d been coming for us. Pride nearly strangled me. “Sort of. She’s ours. I don’t want the information spreading, but where we go, she goes.”
“Shit, Bro. That’s deep. I’ve never seen you catch feelings for a woman before.”
I glared at him. “No one said shit about catching anything.”