Chapter 10: Erin

SATURDAY. AEGIS GROUP SAFE HOUSE, ERBIL, KURDISTAN.

ERIN SAT AT THE head of the table and picked at her food. She didn't have much of an appetite though she knew she should. Her body hummed with awareness of the man to her left. She refused to think too much about their stolen moments together. They were adults. They had needs, but needs didn't have to mean more than simply satisfying themselves.

Yeah, when had that ever worked for her?

She glanced up and caught Thomas staring at her. He hadn't said much of anything to her. not an I'm sorry or a glad you're okay. Her skin crawled and the last urge to eat shriveled and died.

When he'd first been assigned to her Erin hadn't paid him much mind. She'd gotten an email her previous guard was being replaced, and the next day Thomas was there to pick her up and take her into the office. They'd hardly spoken to each other.

It was after she'd wrapped up Osman's project and got a little caught up that she'd stopped working during the drives. That was when she'd begun to notice the way Thomas looked at her, like he'd smother her in her sleep.

He performed his duties to the letter. There were no grounds to fault him or ask for a replacement. It was all in her head. Then why couldn't she shake this uneasy feeling about him?

The only thing for her was to beef up her security at home and always make sure he didn't follow her to her condo.

Maybe after this incident she could get him reassigned.

She hoped so. She hadn't felt this uncomfortable doing her job in well over a year. Or was it two years now?

Fuck. Maybe she did need a trip home, but not yet. Something was going on here and she didn't want to leave things unresolved. Everyone was still trying to sort out Osman's workload. If she left, that would create a bigger backlog.

The backlog was killing all of them. She'd barely had a moment for herself.

"You don't like the food?" Melody leaned toward Erin.

The woman was nice. A little too nice for Erin's taste. The too-bright smile and perfect manners were a front.

"It's wonderful. I think I'm just too exhausted to eat." She held up her hand and feigned a yawn.

"Well, there's plenty if you're hungry later." Melody smiled.

"What is our plan, exactly?" Erin asked.

"We have everyone on a plane out late tomorrow afternoon." Melody picked at her food. She moved it around more than she ate.

"When can I go to the office? I have a lot of work I'd like to take with me." Erin pushed her plate away.

"Actually, we were told to take you directly to Texas," Melody said.

"But what about my work? Packing a bag?" Erin frowned. That didn't make sense unless they were firing her.

"I think everyone is very concerned about ensuring your safety, and the rest of it is stuff that can get sorted out later."

More like there was a reason behind the attack buried here and someone didn't want her digging.

No, that was unfair. Her employers were decent people, but that couldn't be said of everyone.

Erin couldn't leave Erbil until she had everything figured out.

The attack was not random.

It was not happenstance she'd been kidnapped.

There was a purpose behind it all, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

"You know, I'm going to go ahead and turn in. That's going to be a long flight tomorrow and I'm tired." Erin pushed her chair back and stood.

"Did someone show you to your room?" Melody asked.

"Yeah." Erin smiled through the lie.

She didn't want Riley, Melody, or anyone else following her.

Erin climbed the stairs to the second floor. A few of the guys were already done with dinner and off in the living room staring at screens. Their gig was a whole lot more high-tech than the units she'd worked with during her years in the army.

With the guys watching the house from every angle, they were going to see her if she tried to walk out the door. How was she going to get out of here?

The best thing to do would be to wait until it was dark, and they began rotating sleep schedules. That would mean fewer people to see her slip away, but that would mean crossing the city in the dead of night by herself.

Erin edged out into the hallway. The voices from downstairs indicated the meal still continued. No one paced the hall. She went down two doors and pushed it open, peering into an empty bedroom.

She crossed to the balcony and slid the doors open. The outside space wasn't any bigger than a hotel balcony. The wide railing, however, could provide a nice place to grip. But where was she going?

The wall between the properties was a good four feet away. Despite her balancing skills, she wasn't going to vault herself over the fence and onto the neighbor's property without seriously hurting herself.

The bedroom door eased open.

She turned and tightened her grip on the rail.

Thomas stared at her. She swallowed but kept staring right back at him.

"I'm glad they found you," he said. The statement wasn't reflected in his face or his voice. He might as well be delivering the day's agenda.

"Me, too. I hope no one held you responsible."

"You know how these things are." Again, his physical response and voice didn't match up with his words. He was cold. Distant.

"They're taking me back to America tomorrow. Any idea where you'll be assigned?" It felt as though a million bugs crawled on her arms, legs and across her stomach.

"Not a clue." Thomas took a few ambling steps into the room.

Erin stared at the door. It swung almost shut on silent hinges. Thomas could reach her before she'd be able to call for help.

"I'll call my boss. Tell them how great you've been. Maybe you'll get a cushy assignment?" She glanced at the wall dividing her balcony from the next room.

"That'd be awful nice-"

"Hey, Erin?" Riley called out, his voice far too loud. The door shoved open and Riley stepped in, hauling two large bags with him. Riley's gaze went straight to Thomas, as though he'd known Thomas was there. "Oh, hey. There you are. Grant and Melody are looking for you downstairs. If I were you, I'd leave them together for as short a time as possible. They don't like each other."

"Well, I guess those are my marching orders." Thomas glanced back at Erin and nodded. "Talk to you later."

God, she hoped not.

Riley watched the other man exit the room, no hurry to his stride.

The bedroom door clicked shut behind him and the tension snapped. Erin bent forward bracing her hands on her knees and sucked in a deep breath. Riley was at her side in a moment. His hand squeezed her shoulder, and he knelt at her side.

"You okay? He do anything? I swear he was downstairs one minute and gone."

"No, I'm fine. Totally fine." She shook her head, as though she could rid herself of the sleazy, creepy feeling of Thomas' presence. Maybe it was all in her head. Perhaps the impact of three days in captivity wasn't just an aversion to darkness, maybe she was seeing danger where there wasn't any.

"Erin, talk to me?"

She straightened and pasted on a smile. Riley had run to her rescue, proving yet again that he was one of the good ones. Even if she wanted to throttle him and his team for not allowing her home or to her office before leaving the country.

"I'm fine. Everything is fine," she said.

"What did he say?" Riley's frown telegraphed his disbelief.

"Just that he was glad I was back. I asked if he was in trouble and what he'd do next. Nothing, really."

"Yeah?" Riley peered over the edge of the balcony at the ground below. It was harder to make out the landscaping in the quickly fading light. "I wouldn't recommend trying to get out this way. That fall would be a bitch."

"How? I wasn't..." Erin gaped at him.

"Oh, come on. Give me some credit." Riley nudged her back inside the room and closed the sliding doors. "I can spot someone who wants to slip away. Tell me why?"

He perched on the edge of the bed, completely serious in his request.

"Someone wants me out of Erbil. Why? Why was I targeted? What do I know? Or what should I know?" She began pacing the bedroom, her mind whirling. "A month ago, one of the other Project Managers died from an allergic reaction. I inherited Osman's workload. What if there's something in those boxes? I can't just leave and hope it all turns out okay because the company wants to cover their ass by pulling me out of here."

"Where are these files?"

"My office at the NexGen complex."

"How far from here is that?"

"Twenty miles? I'm not exactly sure."

"Safe area?"

"Yeah."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No. Erbil is as safe a place as you can get in this part of the world. It's why they want me out of here. They want to cover up that an attack even happened."

"Okay, then get dressed." Riley opened one of the black bags and shoved a handful of material at her. It was dark colored and thin.

"What the...?"

"It's something with a scarf. You know how to wear that, right?"

Erin stared at Riley. What was he implying?

"Look, you're going to be a pain in the ass about this unless we get whatever it is you think you need. You're going to keep looking for a way to slip away or whatever, and that makes my job more difficult. So, the only solution I see is to make a hard pitch to Grant and Melody about why we need to go get this stuff together. Otherwise we're toeing the line of holding you prisoner and that's not what we do."

"You're going to help me?"

"Your safety is on me. If you get hurt, even if it's because you ran away, that's still on me. Give me a chance to do this the right way with the right support. We go to your office, get the files, come back here, and you get on the plane tomorrow with us. Deal?"

He was serious.

She swallowed and blinked a few times, unprepared for Riley's willingness to go to bat for her.

"What gave me away?" She shook out the garment and its complimentary scarf.

"Turning in early," he said.

"Maybe I'm tired." She laid the scarf on the bed and held up the long-sleeved, floor length garment.

"You did everything you could to not be in a room by yourself last night," he said, a softness to his voice.

She swallowed, and her insides quivered.

Erin pulled the garment on over her head and shimmied it in place. The burnt orange color wasn't something she'd pick, but it was popular among locals. The desert hues always went off well, it seemed. She wrapped the scarf in her best imitation of a hijab. Her mother would no doubt scoff and have a few words, but it wasn't like she'd ever worn one before her first deployment.

"There. Not my favorite color, but it'll work. How do I look?" She held out her hands.

"It works." Riley pushed to his feet. "What is your favorite color?"

"Blue. Why?" She frowned, caught off guard by the question.

"Curious is all. Wait here. I'm going to go get Melody and we'll make our case to her first. Grant's going to say no, so our best bet is getting her on our side."