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Callum balanced the tray of drinks on top of the pastry box and pushed the door open to step out of Whale’s Tale. It had been a total whirlwind since he’d gotten that call from Boyd asking him to help rescue Jaia, and things had now gone back to normal around here.
“Must be nice to be able to eat that every day and never gain an ounce.”
He glanced to his right and smiled at Sierra, who was pushing Walter up the sidewalk in his stroller. “Don’t hate me because my metabolism’s awesome.”
She grinned. “You guys are all the same. It’s annoying. I love sugar more than anyone. Hey, Walter, who’s this? Is it your new buddy?”
Walter had his chin resting on the front rim of the stroller. He stared up at Callum with droopy, red-rimmed eyes, unmoving.
“Hey, buddy. How’s it going?” Callum asked, shifting his load to hold up a hand in front of Walter’s face. “High five?”
Walter gazed up at him for a long moment, then slowly one front paw appeared above the front edge of the stroller, pads out.
“Yeah,” Callum said, tapping it with his palm. “Good boy.”
“I just love his enthusiasm,” Sierra said dryly. “Say hi to Kerrigan and Ryder. Gotta run, I’ve got a castration scheduled in ten minutes.”
Callum made a face. “Poor bastard.” Sierra’s laugh carried to him as he walked to his truck parked at the curb.
Back at the office he carried everything into the staff room and placed it on the table. The triple-shot Americano was calling his name. He’d slept maybe two hours last night and needed the jolt of caffeine to get through the meetings he had scheduled for the rest of the day.
Ryder’s voice came from out in the hallway, then a woman’s. Callum turned around to find his boss striding toward him with the most recent person he’d interviewed.
He smiled at Jaia, glad to see she was ready to dive back into the workforce again after everything she’d been through. That was a good sign.
The fallout from the whole ordeal was continuing. Giesbrecht and Lawrence were both in jail awaiting trial. Hopefully more arrests would follow. “So? He’s not as intimidating in person as on the phone, is he?”
Jaia grinned and glanced at Ryder. “No, he still is.”
Ryder laughed and shook his head. “Good. Need to get respect from someone around here.” He eyed what was on the table. “You get me anything?”
“Maybe.” He opened the box and turned it toward them. “Thought Jaia could do with a sugar reward after all the stress you just put her through.”
“Stress my ass,” Ryder said, striding over to take the box. “She didn’t so much as fidget the entire time. Cool as ice. She’s hired, by the way.”
Callum raised his eyebrows at Jaia and laughed. “Well then. Welcome to the insanity.”
“Oh, it won’t be insane for much longer,” she said, dark eyes twinkling as she nodded at Ryder. “That’s why he hired me. I’m about to take a lot of stress off your plates by getting everything organized and streamlined going forward.”
“Thank God,” Callum said, offering her one of the drinks. “I heard you like chai. Poppy said it’s nowhere near as good as what you make, but it was the best she could do.”
“Aww, that was sweet of her, and sweeter of you to bring me this. Thank you.” Jaia took it, wrapping both hands around it.
“When do you start?” She was going to be a great asset to the company, and he could already feel some of the added stress leaving his shoulders.
“As soon as possible,” Ryder said, reaching for one of the other drinks.
Callum pulled the tray out of reach. “No, that one’s for Kerrigan.” She was interviewing another potential contractor in her office. They were hiring like crazy right now because demand for their services was insane. “Here.” He handed over a plain dark coffee.
“No wonder she likes you so much,” Ryder muttered. “Preferential treatment.”
“Because she’s way nicer to me than you are.” He took a sip of the coffee, inwardly sighing in bliss. “You hear about the Sudan contract yet?”
“No. Got a call scheduled with him tomorrow.” Ryder looked at Jaia. “So...when are you available to start?”
“Monday,” she answered with a smile. “I need to get a few more things settled with our new place over the weekend.”
“Well, you did just get back from Tampa the other day,” Ryder mused. “I’ll allow it.”
“Good. Monday morning, I’ll be here by eight.”
“I can’t wait,” Ryder muttered. “And Danae’s gonna be thrilled that she won’t have to do all that extra work on top of her job anymore.”
“I’m going to make sure we clear your schedule up enough that you’ll get your weekends back,” Jaia promised.
Ryder looked stunned. “Weekends? What are those again?”
“The two extra days at the end of the week you use to get more work done,” Callum said with a smirk.
“That’s about it,” Ryder said with a shake of his head and a rueful smile.
“I hear you have a new housemate too?” Jaia said.
“Yup.” Groz had moved in just over a week ago now, so they’d been getting to know each other and settling into their new situation. Callum liked having him around, and the rescue op had created a sort of bond before he’d moved in. “Already had our first fight last night.”
Her eyes widened. “About what?”
“Movies. Don’t worry, I won, because it’s my house. But he’s sarcastic as hell, so that’s pretty entertaining. Won’t be dull with him around.”
“No, definitely not,” she agreed with a secret grin.
“You got a crew together for the job in Jordan yet?” Ryder asked him.
“Almost.” He’d secured one guy for the detail but needed another. He wanted a team of two under him when they went over there given all the instability along the Iraqi and Syrian borders recently. “I’ll let you know once everything’s finalized.”
Ryder nodded and snagged the pastry box, then lifted his eyebrows at Jaia. “Shall we? I’ll start drawing up the paperwork while we talk about systems.”
She laughed. “It’s almost like you’re in a hurry to hire me or something,” she said, trailing after him down the hall.
“You better save me one of those,” Callum called out, striding for his own office at the opposite end from Ryder’s.
Spring sunshine streamed in through the tall windows that overlooked the waterfront and ocean. The view was incredible, and this job was light years better than risking his life on a daily basis, working in hostile shithole after hostile shithole overseas as he’d done in his years with The Unit.
Crimson Point Security was currently operating out of a four-story heritage building. On the outside the brick façade looked historical, but inside Ryder had kitted the whole thing out with state-of-the-art security. Callum had only been here for a little over a month, but he loved the work, and he and Ryder got along great. Callum had become his unofficial 2IC in the time they’d been working together.
Files that required his urgent attention were stacked in the middle of the desk nearest his computer. He sat and flipped the top one open, scanning all the information on the upcoming mission to Jordan—a personal protection detail for nonprofit personnel taking part in a summit.
A sudden barrage of images flashed through his mind. Dust and dry sand. Scorching hot days. Freezing nights spent out in the desert.
And Nadia.
He could see her so clearly in his mind, her dark brown eyes glowing with happiness as she smiled up at him.
She was a distraction he couldn’t afford right now, so he pushed her from his mind and opened up his email to get back to work.
Only to go completely still when he saw the latest message sitting in his inbox.
Nadia.
His chest tightened, a sharp quick pain lancing him, then a strange, warm softening sensation, like his heart had suddenly expanded too quickly. He opened the message, read it while his heart thudded against his ribs.
They’d met in Jordan a year ago while he was on a security detail for the previous company he’d worked for. Nadia had been at a dinner, working for one of the humanitarian agencies she loved so much. Luckily for him, he’d been off duty when it wrapped up. He’d introduced himself, asked her to dinner, and he’d never been the same since.
They’d flown to Qatar together, where he’d spent the best four days of his entire life with her. Mostly in bed, but enjoying the city. Talking. Getting to know one another.
He’d lost his heart then and hadn’t gotten it back. Which made her gradual withdrawal even harder to take.
It had been almost five months since he’d heard from her, even though he’d reached out every few weeks to see how she was. Her sporadic responses had been lukewarm at best, so he’d backed off, thinking she’d moved on.
Hey! Sorry I’ve been out of touch so much. Busy as ever, and I’m in Syria right now.
He frowned at that. Syria was still damn dangerous, and the organizations she worked for seemed to like putting her right in the middle of the shit.
Really enjoying my work with the orphanages over here. Things are pretty rough, and we had a rocket attack nearby yesterday—
Fuck.
—that shook us all up a bit, but no one was hurt thankfully. How are things with you? Did you ever find that job you were looking for?
Have to run but hope everything’s good there. Take care.
Nadia xo
He stared at the picture she’d attached beneath it. A headscarf covered her chocolate-brown hair. She was standing behind a young boy with her arms around him, both of them laughing into the camera.
A sharp, swift pain pierced his chest.
Christ, he missed her. Was pretty sure he was in love with her—something he’d never imagined would happen to him—and for damn sure couldn’t get her out of his system. They’d been star-crossed from day one with their conflicting work and travel schedules, rarely being on the same continent at the same time since they’d met, so the timing never seemed to work out.
That xo at the end kept drawing his attention. Her personality was warm and friendly, and she was an affectionate person. She’d always signed off on emails or texts with it. Did it mean anything significant for her, or was it just wishful thinking?
He sat forward and put his hands on the keyboard, a million things bursting to come out. He hated that she was in danger, and he very much doubted that she had any sort of real security there to protect her. Did they have police patrols in the area at least? Someone armed on the premises?
There was so much he wanted to say. So much he wanted to ask.
But he kept it light, shoving down all his emotions, hiding everything he felt for her. And he couldn’t help but add one final line at the end.
Please tell me you’re okay and being careful.
He hit send, wishing he were there with her. He wanted to personally guard her, would gladly stand between her and anything that posed a risk to her safety. Protect her at all costs.
Because whether she realized it or not, she was carrying the missing half of his heart with her on the other side of the world right now.
