Shadow Soldier

His tanned face never flinched. His sharp gaze was fixed on the road before them, but the muscles in his jaw were relaxed, as was the rest of his body. She was having a heart attack and he looked as if he was on his way to breakfast. Of course, the driver of the brown van was probably not his first casualty. The thought did nothing to settle her stomach.

“If they caught up with us, they would have done the same.” He spoke to her in an even voice, much like an EMT or policeman trying to calm an upset citizen.

“I know.” She closed her eyes, trying to get a grip on what was happening to her life. “It’s just that—I’m not used to people getting killed in connection with me.”

He nodded as he turned on the global positioning system and rolled onto a narrow country road, raising a billowing cloud of dust behind them.

“How close are we?”

“Not close enough to get there on a flat, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Her hands began to shake again, as her brain downgraded her already-not-too-optimistic forecast for survival. They’d have to walk. And somewhere out there the shooter was still after them.

Alex flipped the car into four-wheel drive then rode off the road into a field of wheat, following what looked like tractor tracks. As the SUV rattled over the uneven ground, she prayed they would reach the cover of the trees before the brown van reappeared on the road behind them. But when they finally got to the trees, finding cover proved to be harder than she had anticipated.

Precious seconds flew by as they searched for an opening in the thick tall brush. Then Alex found it. He pulled the car inside the small patch of woods far enough so they wouldn’t be seen from the road, then turned the vehicle so anyone coming after them would be met head-on. When he got out, she followed his example.

“You stay inside.” He walked to the back.

“Are you leaving me?” She hadn’t considered that. She had thought they would walk to the safe house together. “Are you going for help?”

He looked at her as if she were crazy. “I’m changing the tire.”

“Oh.” She sagged against a tree.

The heat was oppressive even this early in the day, a physical presence pushing down on her. For days she’d been hoping for a good storm to break the heat wave, some much-needed rain to cool everything off, but according to the weather service there was no relief in sight. She wiped her forehead as she watched the man. If the soaring temperature bothered him, he didn’t show it.

He pulled the spare from the back then grabbed the jack. Dappled sunlight glinted off his black hair as he moved with fluid motions. “Get in the car.”

Too drained to bristle at being ordered around, she did as she was told, but left the door open so they could talk and she could breathe. The air stood still in the small grove of trees. “Do you think he’ll come after us?”

“Probably.”

“Will he find us?” Stupid question. The man, Alex, wasn’t a fortune teller. But she was desperate for reassurance.

“Not likely,” he said and looked away too quickly.

“But?”

“Nothing.”

“If you were him, could you track me down?”

“If someone is determined enough, they’ll always find a way.”

Great. Bloody peachy.

He snapped the jack into place. “I’m going to make it as hard as I can for him. Don’t worry. I think we lost him for now.”

He was probably right. It would have taken the shooter a while to move his partner from the wheel, break out the shattered windshield so he could see, and get the van back on the road. Most likely, Alex and she were out of sight by then and the man could only guess where they had gone. Alex had been checking the rearview mirror the whole time. He would have seen the guy if he had managed to catch up with them.

She had to think positively. Couldn’t afford to give ground to the panic that fought to take her over, wouldn’t allow it to distract her. Not now. She could do this. She had to. She needed to remain calm and ready for whatever was to come.

She felt the car lift from the ground and wanted to offer to get out. She was about to ask but then changed her mind. He had made it clear where he wanted her, and she did feel safer inside. Marginally. She might never feel completely safe again. People were trying to kill her. She wanted back her sane, ordinary world where things like that didn’t happen.

He was done in minutes and back in the driver’s seat next to her. “Are you ready?”

She wasn’t ready for any of this, but they couldn’t stay there in the middle of a field. She nodded.

He wiped his dirty hands on his jeans, then turned the key in the ignition, bringing the engine to life. He put his right hand on the wheel. His left held his gun out the open window, the barrel resting on the top of the side-view mirror.

The gesture had such a movie-like feel, she had trouble grasping the reality of it. Just that morning she’d been thinking how well her life was coming along. Sure, she was nobody’s idea of a perfect woman and would probably never fit into size-four pants, but she’d learned to live with that. She had a great house, two argumentative zebra finches, and a smoothly running consulting business she’d built with her own two hands.

“I keep thinking I’ll wake up to find all this was a nasty dream, brought on by eating too much chocolate before going to bed.”

Only when Alex turned to fix his attention on her, his dark eyes intense, did she realize she had spoken out loud. He hesitated for a second, as if weighing her words. He probably thought she was a complete idiot.

But he didn’t scoff at her. “That’s not going to happen, Nicola. I need you to be able to deal with the here and now.” His voice was calm and serious, the expression on his face somber.

She took a steadying breath then nodded as the truth of his words sunk in. She would handle whatever came their way. Because her only other option was to die.

Chapter Two

The General’s grip tightened on the phone at his ear. “What happened?” How was it possible that the girl had gotten away?

He leaned back in his leather armchair and rubbed the awakening ache behind the barely visible burn marks on his temples where the electrodes had been placed during the endless torture. Since then, when he got tense, he was prone to violent headaches.

“Forgive me, General. There was a man—”

“Get rid of the car and the body.” He stumped out his cigar. If someone saved her, it meant she had been watched, protected. He hadn’t expected that. A tactical mistake. His enemy was shrewd and the men behind him many. “And don’t come in.”

“Yes, General.”

He got up to pull down some of the bamboo shades, the glaring sunlight aggravating the headache. “Make sure you are caught soon. You know what to say.”

“Yes, General.” The answer took longer to come this time, but he had no doubt his men would follow his orders—even to their death.

He hung up the phone and looked out into the courtyard patrolled by his soldiers. Today’s mission had failed, but the rest of his small team was safe. The authorities would never find them. He knew what he was doing—he was a Meng, descendant of the famous fugitive.

His men would locate the girl again, and this time they would know what they were up against. An armed bodyguard. Maybe more. It didn’t matter. They would be ready. He had plans that would change his country, as well as the United States of America. Indeed, they might change the world.

But first he needed Nicola Barrington.

“THIS IS IT?” Nicola stared at the dubious-looking farmhouse as Alex pulled behind the building. The paint on the wood siding had peeled away years ago, only a few brownish-green patches hung on for dear life here and there. At least a third of the roof shingles had permanently departed, window blinds hung broken, and the porch railing appeared to have lain down to rest. The weeds they passed in front were respectable enough for a small jungle. The backyard was no better, dominated by an ancient oak and a dilapidated barn.

The uneasy feeling that had begun somewhere around her midsection when Alex had slowed the car in front of the place grew until tension stiffened her muscles and balled in her stomach. “Do we have to go in?”

“Yes.” His foot barely touching the gas, he let the car roll forward on the narrow path of gravel. “It’s safer inside. Get down. I’ll be right back.” He stopped the car and got out, leaving the motor running.

After a split second of hesitation, she did as she’d been told, knowing his orders were for her protection. She didn’t have to wait long before he came back and pulled the car into the barn.

He shut off the motor and got out to open the door for her. “We’re going in. Stay behind me.” He brought two Kevlar vests from the back of the car and handed her one. “Put this on.”

She tested the weight—surprisingly light. She had expected it to feel like old-fashioned armor, with steel plates inside, or something similar, but the vest didn’t feel like it held metal panels. The material was flexible. She fumbled with the Velcro.

“Hang on.” He stepped closer, his voice, despite having kept it low, echoed in the empty barn. “Lift your arm.”

She looked away while he secured the bulletproof vest on both sides. The large open space of the barn with all its shadows and smell of moldy hay made her nervous, though she knew he had checked it out before they pulled in. And having him in her personal zone made her jumpy, too. Massive in the shoulders, he towered at least a full foot over her.

She tended to be self-conscious about her height and weight. Richard, her ex-fiancé, had teased her plenty about both. She was “easier to jump over than run around,” he used to tell her. She’d stayed with him too long, wanting to please her father. God, she’d been stupid. Nothing she’d ever done pleased the man.

“There.” Alex stepped back then put on his own Kevlar before moving outside. He closed the barn door behind them but didn’t start out at once. He stayed motionless for several seconds while he surveyed their surroundings. Gun in hand, he led her across the small backyard, always one step ahead of her, shielding her from the road.

When they reached the house, he pushed her to the side, the gun in his right hand, his left on the door. It opened silently and did not, as Nicola had expected, fall off the hinges. The small entryway was dark. She could just make out the second door, solid steel by the looks of it.

Alex pushed a couple of buttons on the numeric keypad under the doorknob. “This way we don’t have to worry about a key.”

She followed him into the main part of the house and watched as he disabled the security system. He took off his vest and tossed it in the corner, shaking his head when she wanted to do the same. Weren’t they safe?

She looked around in the room that showed none of the neglect that plagued the exterior of the building. Tall ceilings, gleaming wood floors, spotless modern furniture and an entertainment system that would have made her own cry in envy. She had expected a card table with folding chairs and maybe a mattress on the floor. But despite the niceness of the place, she couldn’t relax. Maybe the house had bad feng shui. She stole a glance at Alex. “Do you come here often?”

“First time.”

“Oh.” She sat on the edge of the sprawling tan couch and gathered herself. “I’m ready to hear whatever it is you have to say.”

“As I told you before, I’m here for your protection.”

“I’d like to know your full name.”

“Why?”

Good question. To make her feel better? As a reassurance that he and all this was real and she hadn’t somehow crossed over into the twilight zone? “Please.”

He watched her for a moment. “I can’t.”

At least he hadn’t said, If I told you, I’d have to kill you. “Have you been following me long?”

“Two months or so.”

Of course. That was about how long he’d been coming to the gym. “Must have been convenient to get a nice workout and keep an eye on me at the same time.” She took a deep breath. “I want to know why.”

He leaned against the waist-high counter that separated the living room from a modern and well-equipped kitchen. “We came across intelligence that a U.S. senator and his family might be the target of a terrorist attack. Further investigation picked up your father’s name.”

Concern leaped in her chest. “Is he okay? Was he attacked?”

He shook his head. “He’s being watched 24/7. Any ideas why you’d be a target?”

The word target had that cold-knife-in-the-chest feel to it. She rubbed her solar plexus. “Not really. I’d assume it has to do with his position on some hot-button issue. There are always fanatics out there. Did he vote on anything controversial lately? I don’t follow his career.” She wasn’t about to apologize for it or explain further.

“We believe the threat is international.”

“China?”

He nodded. “Did he make any enemies while he was there? Anything you remember could be useful.”

“He wasn’t a popular ambassador.” Or rather, the U.S. had been unpopular at the time due to its protective edicts on Taiwan. Her father had been merely the messenger. She swallowed. Wasn’t there a saying about shooting the messenger? “He could probably give you more information. I was too young at the time to pay much attention.”

“I’m sure he already filled in the case investigators.”

She blinked as her brain raced to catch up. Investigators. Right. There’d be those. And God knows what else. Probably press. If there was one thing she hated, it was the media, but under the circumstances that would hardly be avoidable. The events of the morning played in her head in a never-ending loop. “How long do you think I’d have to stay here?”

“Until the shooter is dead or in custody and we figure out whether there are others involved. But even if there are, I don’t think another attack is likely. They rarely try to hit the same target twice.”

“I vote for that.”

He fiddled with the window locks. “In general, terrorists make their point by sowing terror, disrupting people’s lives. Sometimes they use the media attention to promote their cause. Whether or not the target dies is almost irrelevant.”

“How nice.” Good to know there were distinct guidelines to the business.

“Except, of course, for large-scale hits where the magnitude of damage is what they’re after and body count is more important. Individual cases like yours tend to be either warnings or revenge related.” His expression was sober, his eyes assessing every inch of the room while they talked.

“So which one do you think this is?”

He considered for a second. “Warning. I’m guessing you haven’t done much in China that would call for revenge. Your father maybe, but then they’d be going after him. By targeting you, I think they’re trying to send him a message.”

“To vote one way or the other on some issue of Chinese interest?”

“Possibly. I’d say they’re done with you now.”

She knew he was lying from the way he wouldn’t look at her. Probably standard procedure to say something like this to calm down the people being protected—made things easier on him if she didn’t become hysterical.

“Great.” She could stay under house arrest or risk walking into another hail of bullets as soon as she left. Lovely choices. Alex was right about the “interrupting people’s life” part. She was a business owner. How many clients would she lose if she didn’t turn up at scheduled meetings and didn’t return phone calls for a week? Her business, assisting reputable Asian companies to break into U.S. markets, was her livelihood. Even if the terrorists didn’t come back for her, they could ruin her by simply forcing her into extended hiding.

“Maybe it’s not about my father. What if it’s related to one of my clients? An unsatisfied customer?” Although, for the life of her she couldn’t think of one.

“I don’t think so.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I checked them all out. Thoroughly. And the ‘chatter’ we came across distinctly indicated the senator.”

He had checked out her clients. Without her consent. She tried not to get upset over that. The man was following orders—probably her father’s. And she had to hand it to him, he seemed competent at his job. As much as she hated this whole situation, she was glad she had him on her side. “Am I allowed to get in contact with anyone while I’m here? Can I use the phone?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t make any calls from this location.” He moved from window to window like a black shadow as he checked out the front yard.

Staying here in isolation was going to cost her. Big-time. She was supposed to sign the deal of her career on Monday. She had put six months worth of work into convincing CEO Du Shaozu that she was the right consultant to help him bring his innovative game software to the States.

“If you’re worried about your business, I might be able to get someone to cancel your appointments as long as you can provide names and phone numbers.”

“You could?” His understanding caught her off guard. “Only one that’s urgent. I have a meeting first thing Monday morning. It should be canceled today—nobody will be in their offices over the weekend. I don’t know the number by heart.” But maybe whoever was going to call could look it up. “The name is Du Shaozu at Du Enterprises.”

“Right.” He nodded, and she had the feeling he knew a lot more about her than he let on. “Anyone else?”

“A half-dozen meetings that I can think of off the top of my head and a few phone conferences.”

“Anyone else from China?”

“Several. I’m an international commerce consultant specializing in the Far East. Look, I don’t want my clients to be harassed.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“And there are a couple of friends and my neighbors. They’ll definitely notice that I’m missing.” She would have to ask someone to feed her finches, although the birds should be fine for today and tomorrow at least.

He shrugged. “Can’t risk calling everyone around. They’ll just have to worry for a couple of days.”

She didn’t like it but she understood. “This is serious, isn’t it?”

He looked at her for a long moment, probably searching for something reassuring he could tell her. His face was somber as he spoke a single word. “Very.”

“I appreciate your honesty.” She hated the catch in her voice that made her sound like a frightened schoolgirl. Of course, she was frightened. But he probably saw a lot of that in his type of business, had guarded more than his share of frantic women. She would have to try her best not to become one.

“You don’t have to worry. You’re safe with me,” he said.

Her gaze slid over his wide shoulders, the biceps that stretched his black shirt on his arms. He was physically fit, no doubt about that. But even if she didn’t have an armed terrorist after her, feeling safe or even remotely comfortable with Alex in the same room would have been impossible.

ALEX SURVEYED THE ROOM for anything he might have missed on the first run. Rectangular, about twenty feet by thirty, it ran the entire length of the house. The living room and kitchen together, nicely fixed up as far as safe houses went. Two windows looked north in the front, one south by the back entry. He opened the first of two closed doors on the east wall and found a hall closet stocked with clothes and other essentials. Excellent. The other door revealed a steep row of rickety stairs to the basement.

He signaled to Nicola to stay where she was, then walked to the landing and turned, only to find the basement walled off. Looked like the job had been done decades ago. He kicked the stones at a couple of places. Solid. No surprises would be coming from there.

He went back up and walked around the room to check out a door under the staircase that led upstairs. A small bathroom with a shower, simple and clean. Packages of toothpaste and toothbrushes along with a few disposable razors occupied the medicine cabinet. A monster of a first-aid kit was tucked under the vanity next to a couple of old Playboy magazines. He grinned. Some things never changed. He closed the door and walked back into the living room.

“Now what?” Nicola wrinkled her brows as she turned from the window. The Kevlar hid her curves, leaving only her phenomenal legs for him to admire. They were enough. He could have spent days on those legs alone. Weeks.

The woman was plenty enough to get under his skin and keep him tantalized. He definitely didn’t need the magazines under the sink. Best thing for him to do was to drag his mind from that entire direction. He swallowed. “Now I check out the rest of the house.”

He ran up the stairs, forcing his thoughts to the work at hand. A steel reinforced door—dead bolt on both sides—closed off the upper floor. Whoever renovated the old farmhouse hadn’t bothered with anything beyond that. He scanned one room after the other in quick succession. Not much to look at. The windows were good and locked, but everything else had fallen into disrepair. Drywall full of holes and a leaky roof, no sight of furniture, a gutted bathroom—not a pretty picture. He locked the steel door behind him as he walked back down.

“So?” Nicola was checking out the security system next to the door.

“It’s tight.”

She nodded, and her silky dark curls slid into her face. She pushed them from her jewel-green eyes. “Are you going to check outside?”

“Not until it gets dark.” He clipped his phone off his belt and opened a blank e-mail. “My turn.”

“For what?”

“Questions. I want you to give me the name of everyone you came in contact with in China, and as much information about them as you can remember.”

“That would take hours.”

“Start in order of importance.”

She rubbed her temple. “Meng Mei, my best friend. We went to the same school. I lost touch with her after coming back to the States. I don’t see what this could possibly have to do with—”

“Keep going.” He typed the information into the phone.

“Most of the people I came in contact with worked at the embassy. They went through extensive security clearance, I’m sure. The cooks, the maids, the gardener, the people who staffed the consulate and handled the visa applications.” She rattled off a number of names and he took them down.

“Anyone else?”

She named a few of her Chinese classmates at the English language school.

“How about the people your parents came in contact with?”

“Other than the embassy staff, I wouldn’t know. I know my father met with a number of Chinese officials, but he didn’t talk much about work at home.”

“That’s fine.” The Colonel had probably talked about that with the senator already. “How about your Chinese acquaintances in this country?”

“About twenty clients currently, but I don’t want anyone to contact them.” She fixed him with a stern look. “You said you already checked them out.”

Her generous lips looked even more tempting when she pursed them like that. “That was before the attack. This is a whole new ball game. They’re about to be checked out again.” Right down to their great-grandfathers if he had to.

She started to list some names, and he asked as many questions as he could think of, maybe even dragged it out a little. The role felt comfortable, what he was used to. He didn’t know what to do after he was done, how to make small talk. It had been years since he’d had to spend more than a night with any one woman, his job not exactly conducive to long-term relationships.

Not that spending a night with Nicola Barrington wasn’t more appealing than most anything he could think of. He had spent the past two months memorizing all the spots on her body he would have liked to touch. Seemed harmless at the time, considering they were unlikely to meet. And for damn sure he’d been due some entertainment. Trouble was when night did come, they wouldn’t be spending it together in the traditional sense. She would be spending it on the pullout couch while he took brief naps sitting by the window. He didn’t expect it to be a particularly satisfying experience.