Wicked Games: The Extended Edition (Steele Security #1) Read online

  He leaned back in his chair and continuously assessed her every reaction. Reaper narrowed his eyes in anger as he spoke. “Classified information and hidden information are two very different things.”

  “Sometimes they’re one in the same. Aren’t they?” she replied sadly.

  “It would seem so.”

  Brianna left Noah’s office more hurt and confused than when she’d entered it. She still had no concrete proof to clear Noah’s name, but she knew in her heart that he’d never be part of an illegal scheme. Especially not one that involved smuggling guns to rebels in third world countries. What kept her from involving the authorities was that they wouldn’t care what her heart told her. On paper, Noah looked guilty as hell.

  Richard had knowingly involved his longtime friend in his illegal scheme, but set everything up so only Noah would be blamed. Richard’s name wasn’t actually on any of the paperwork, Brianna was positive of that. He had made sure all the official names and seals were in place.

  Since he wasn’t a senior director, he wasn’t authorized to arrange security details for anyone. She concluded that Richard must have forged the senior director’s signature on the contracts he arranged with Steele Security, allowing the DOD to pay the bills for transporting his weapons. She deduced that the man who was being escorted must be in on the operation, too. She still had to find rock-solid proof that Noah wasn’t involved in any of the illegal business occurring.

  But how? She asked herself.

  Over the following week, Brianna and Noah avoided each other as much as possible. The unintentional silent treatment ate away at the thin sheet of trust they were both treading on. Noah spent more time in his office while Brianna spent her time tracking down every possible bit of information she could find. One contact directed her to another, until she reached the desk of someone in the DOD who could answer her questions about government contracts.

  “George Dant,” he answered.

  “Hi, this is Brianna Tate with the Miami Herald,” she introduced herself for the twelfth time that morning. “I’m trying to find some information about a private contractor the DOD uses to escort officials and dignitaries to hostile countries. Can you help me?”

  “Sure, that’s an easy one. We don’t have any such contractor. Government officials traveling to hot zones are only escorted by U.S. military convoys. No private contractors can be used due to security clearance requirements,” he explained. “No one outside the military and a few governmental agencies are eligible for the level needed.”

  “I wasn’t aware of that stipulation,” Brianna stammered. “Are there any situations where a privately contracted security firm would be used on a military transport plane? Especially one that had the security clearance from prior military service?”

  “I suppose it’s possible, though I can’t think of any off the top of my head. Usually when we contract, we don’t provide their transportation, too. The contract would be for the whole package.”

  “This is very helpful. Thank you so much, George,” she replied glumly.

  “Any time.”

  Hanging up, she glanced at her clock and realized that time was quickly slipping away from her. The tension in the air still hung thick, and their once happy home had become oppressive. With her flight to meet with her informant was approaching later that night, she decided she had to clear the air with Noah.

  She’d tell him everything and allow him to help her set the record straight. She realized that’s the path she should’ve taken from the onset and she considered how she’d approach the subject with him. This was more in his expertise anyway. This story was much bigger than she anticipated, and too much was at stake to make a mistake now.

  When she entered his office, she kept her voice calm and even but awkwardly shifted from foot to foot as she stood in the doorway.

  “Noah, can we please talk about what’s really going on?”

  Her voice was quiet, and for the first time since he met Brianna, she seemed almost afraid to ask him a question. He watched carefully as her eyes moved around the room, not settling on any one thing for too long. The sadness in her eyes was obvious and he didn’t know how to respond.

  He mused, Yes, Brianna, what exactly is going on?

  He’d definitely sensed a change in their relationship over the past few weeks. He had never considered it to be calm by any stretch of the imagination. She was a headstrong investigative reporter who pursued every aspect of her life with the same determination she displayed about a really interesting lead. He was a former Delta Force operative who was every bit as headstrong and determined, if not more.

  He knew when he met her that she was very ambitious. She wouldn’t get the good stories by sitting on the sidelines, or being afraid to ask the tough questions. She had never backed down from a good debate, especially with him. But for the last several weeks there had been a different air between them.

  “Now is not a good time, Bri,” he stated flatly. “I’m very busy.”

  He couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye, and he felt like a coward for it. So he continued diligently studying the paper in front of him instead. He didn’t actually see one damn thing that was on the page. All he knew was that if this conversation played out how he thought it would, his world would come crashing down around him.

  Facing down enemies with an AR-15 squarely aimed at his head was nowhere near as daunting as facing what he believed to be the case here. She’d become withdrawn, secretive, and intentionally created distance between them. She’d quietly creep into their bedroom at night, long after he’d gone to bed. She had stopped waking him to make love after she had a late night of researching and writing. All the signs were there, pointing to the one conclusion that he wasn’t ready to accept. She was preparing to leave him but hadn’t decided how to tell him yet.

  The thought of losing her shut him down mentally. Living without her touch shut him down emotionally. At least with a tangible enemy, he could form an effective plan of attack and protect what was his. With this, he had no plan of attack. He had no recourse. All he had was a vision of life without the one person who’d given him hope of having a happy family life.

  She cleared her throat nervously and she couldn’t hide the disappointment and sadness in her voice. “Okay, Noah. I didn’t mean to bother you at work. We just really need to talk. But I understand you’re too busy for me.”

  “Yeah, lots to do. We can talk later, okay?”

  He still wouldn’t look her in the eye. He mentally berated himself for how he refused to deal with the situation. She stood before him, asking for his time and attention, but he was too troubled to give her what she needed. His inner voice was sorely irritated with him. “Pussy–man up and look at her!”

  She lingered in front of his desk for a few seconds longer and inhaled, as if she were about to say something else, but instead turned and slowly walked away. He allowed himself to look up at that moment and watch her leave. He noticed how her toned, athletic body moved. She had the muscle-toned body of the true yoga fanatic and long distance runner he knew she was. He noticed how her long, straight, blond hair glittered under the lights, even under the unforgiving fluorescents.

  But one thing was definitely different in her stance. She had always held her head high and her shoulders back, as if she were ready to take on anything and anyone. Now, as she left his office, he noticed she looked at the ground, and her shoulders almost slumped as if she had the weight of the world on them.

  He jumped to his feet and his chair flew backward as he rounded his desk. Reading her had always been second nature to him, so he hadn’t understood why he wasn’t able to read her over the past few weeks. Seeing her with fresh eyes brought it all into perspective for him. He’d been trying to interpret her actions through his own feelings, instead of identifying her feelings, her actions, and her intentions.

  The abnormal sorrow and defeat displayed in her posture snapped him out of his funk. Taking the steps two
at a time, he reached the top of the landing just as she unzipped the suitcase lying on their bed. She robotically moved from the dresser to the suitcase, absently folding and placing them inside. Every few seconds, she wiped at her eyes and his heart squeezed in his chest each time.

  “Are we going somewhere?” he asked as he watched her quickly dry her eyes before turning to face him.

  “I have to go to Turkey and meet with my source. I reminded you last week.”

  “That’s today?” he asked disappointedly.

  “Yes, I’m leaving tonight.” Her voice cracked and she quickly turned away from him. “I’ll be back in a week.”

  “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” he offered.

  His hands ached to touch her. His fingers craved the touch of her skin. His lips hungered for the taste of hers. But he wanted her to be the one to initiate it, to fortify that he was still in her heart.

  “So do I. You have no idea how much,” she replied solemnly. “I’m going to take a nap before I have to leave for the airport. I have a feeling this will be a painful flight.” She crawled into their king-size bed, pulled the covers up to her chin, and closed her eyes.

  Forlorn, Noah simply nodded and left Brianna alone in their bed. As he entered his office, his cell phone lying on his desk was ringing.

  “Steele,” he answered.

  “Our client and her entourage are arriving today instead of tomorrow,” Rebel’s tone relayed his annoyance. “We need to get to the airport to pick them up but we need to do a security sweep of the hotel first.”

  One of the many new pop music sensations was performing at an outdoor concert in Miami Beach over the weekend. This particular singer was notorious for being the ultimate diva, showing up unscheduled, and expecting others to immediately accommodate her schedule without regard to theirs.

  Noah muttered a curse under his breath. “Fuck. What perfect timing.”

  “Yeah, no shit, man. I had plans tonight,” Rebel complained. “But, what are you going to do, right?”

  “Right. Give me ten and I’ll be on my way to pick you up.”

  He hung up with Rebel and jogged back up the stairs to Brianna. He found her sleeping soundly, so he leaned over her and kissed her softly on the cheek.

  “I love you, Brianna. Always,” he whispered.

  He quickly changed into his work clothes in the walk-in closet and he left before she stirred. His sixth sense of dread wouldn’t leave him, though. Like a black cloud hovering just over his head, the sense of trouble brewing continued to grow in his mind.

  Something very bad was about to happen. He would bet money on it.

  11

  Chapter Eleven

  Her arrival in Turkey was no easier than her departure from Miami had been. Brianna missed Noah more with every second ticking away on the clock. The painfully long flight left her with way too much time to herself, time to think about everything that had happened, and time to realize what was most important in her life: Noah “Reaper” Steele.

  He was the man of her dreams, the one she’d waited for when she couldn’t even contact him, and the one to whom she wanted to spend her life giving all her love. She mentally berated herself for not treating that love like a precious gift over the past several weeks.

  As she distractedly exited the plane, her plan was simple. Find proof that would exonerate Noah and get back home as soon as possible. She decided she didn’t care what the evidence pointed to, how many neon flashing arrows were pointed at Noah, or if she had to sacrifice her job to protect him.

  After a few clicks on her cellphone, she held her breath as the ringing began. The urge hit her suddenly and urgently. She had to talk to him, she had to apologize for the distance she’d created, and she had to admit to being in over her head.

  He should’ve been on this trip with her. One of the few fights they’d had was over her blatant disregard for her safety, in Noah’s words. Since she was young and wanted to keep her independence, she’d originally mistaken his input as an attempt to control her. The last thing she wanted was to feel as if she had to ask for permission. Now, as she looked at the unfamiliar, unfriendly faces in the airport, she realized she couldn’t have been more wrong.

  Noah was simply concerned about the woman he loved. He knew the dangers that were in the world all too well and he wanted to protect her from harm. She groaned out loud in frustration with herself. “This is his job. This is what he does for a living. I am so stupid,” she chastised herself.

  Noah’s voice filled her ear as his voicemail greeting urged her to leave a message. She listened to the smooth, bass timbre of his voice and it quieted her nerves, helped her to refocus on her own mission.

  “Noah, this is Brianna. I’m sure you’re busy with your new client, but I just wanted to say a couple of things. I’d rather tell you than your voicemail. But, just in case I miss you later, here goes.

  “I love you more than anything or anyone in the world. It was stupid of me to come here without you and I’m truly sorry about that. I wish you were here with me. I’m sorry I’ve acted so weird the last few weeks. I’ll tell you everything that I’ve found while investigating this story. I know I should’ve told you before I left, but I literally just realized how stupid I am while standing in this airport.

  “I’m going to see this through and then I’m coming home to you. I love you, Noah.”

  Just as Brianna slipped her phone into her pocket, her suitcase appeared on the carousel in baggage claim. Once she secured her rental car, she realized how tired she really was. The days and weeks of stress and turmoil had finally caught up with her. She was more than ready to reach her room and stretch out on the bed.

  “Hi, I’m Brianna Tate,” she said as she approached the front desk of the hotel. “I’m checking in.”

  “Welcome, Miss Tate,” the young man behind the counter replied. “Welcome to Turkey. Your room is ready. Do you need help with your luggage?”

  “No, thank you. I can manage,” she answered, taking her room key.

  She was infinitely grateful that her meeting with Ammar’s brother, Deron, wasn’t until the following day. Besides Noah, all she could think about was taking a long, hot shower, followed by ordering room service, before she allowed the bed to swallow her whole.

  Checking her phone for a call or text from Noah became a new obsession. She looked at the touchscreen repeatedly on her way up to her room, once she unpacked, before and after her shower, and countless times while she ate her meal. Before she slipped off to sleep, she whispered a small prayer.

  “Please don’t let me be too late to save us.”

  The next morning, Brianna dressed and checked the map one last time for the precise location where she’d meet Deron. Watching Noah over the past several months of working with him taught her to scout her surroundings ahead of time whenever possible. Check for the ways out, look for vulnerable areas, and identify the most likely hiding spots for unwelcome party crashers were all at the top of her to-do list.

  The locale of the meeting was over an hour away from where her hotel was located. The time she spent driving alone through the desolate land made her extremely nervous. The paved road eventually changed to rock and sand. The city landscape disappeared in her rearview mirror, replaced by flat, barren views. Mountains made of solid rock stood tall in the distance where the road curved and winded in the canyons.

  Nights of lying comfortably in Noah’s arms as he recounted the missions he could talk about immediately sprang to mind. He always stressed the importance of having the high ground in a firefight. Being caught in the lower section of the canyon almost always meant sure death. Her rash, foolish decisions now mocked her, asking if her independence was such a great idea after all.

  The hard-packed dirt road took her past a small village. Rectangular, flat-roofed homes made of uncolored brick and stone were placed side by side. Children played close to the unpaved road, so she slowed her speed in the event they bolted out in front
of her. The hard stares from the villagers who stopped their daily chores and watched her as she drove past stole her breath.

  She finally reached her destination, where she found an old, deserted village with very few structures left fully intact. She parked her rental car in an alcove, hidden by a large protruding boulder, before she stealthily moved around the buildings to conduct a sweep of the area. Most of the roofs had long since caved in, leaving the walls standing as lone testaments of time’s harshness.

  She entered the building where she’d meet Deron and checked the view from each window. She had some measure of relief when she found nothing conspicuously alarming. She moved from room to room and located the doors in the back of the house that would be difficult to monitor. She moved broken pieces of brick and rock to use to block the doors from inside the house. With only one available entrance, she wouldn’t have to be overly concerned about someone slipping in undetected.

  When she moved to the adjacent building, she found a room that gave her the best viewpoint and multiple ways of escape. She’d already planned her route by foot to her car and had nothing but time now. As she made her seat as comfortable as possible, she wiped the sweat from her brow.

  “How can people stand this heat all the time? This is awful,” she said aloud. She took a swig of her water from the canteen and relished the feel of the cold liquid.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked for anything from Noah once again. She wasn’t surprised to see “No Service” in the top left corner of her cell. She made a mental note to add ‘not buying a satellite phone’ to her list of stupid decisions she’d made recently.

  She wouldn’t know if he’d called or texted until she was back in a cell service area. He’d be waiting to hear from her, wondering where she was, and if she was safe. “If I haven’t already damaged our relationship, leaving him in the dark while I’m half-way around the world will surely do it,” she whispered solemnly.