Page 18 of Shadow Target

He turned, meeting Willow’s gaze. Feeling the easy connection between them, he wanted to drown in her green eyes, but resisted. Handing her the remote, he said, “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

“I’ll go with you,” she said, rising. She turned to Dev. “Might as well stretch?”

“For sure.”

Willow saw Luke walking toward them. The two women parted ways as the security officer went over to talk to Dev. Finding the scene interesting, Willow glanced back toward Luke and her friend. Usually, Dev was wary and cool toward strange men, and Luke fit that description. He’d been here barely a day. True, Dev had worked closely with him to get the employees to the nearby hotels after they’d landed, but that had just been business as always, hadn’t it? She saw a pinkness come to Dev’s cheeks as Luke smiled and spoke to her. Willow was too far away, heading for the door, to hear what was said.

“What’s the funny look on your face?” Shep asked, placing one hand beneath her elbow to guide her around the clumps of people talking over their coffee and snacks.

“Oh,” she said, “I just found it interesting that Dev wasn’t giving Luke the cold shoulder.”

Halting at one coffee urn, Shep dropped his hand from her elbow, took a cup, and poured her coffee, handing it to her. “Is Dev already in a relationship?”

Stepping aside, Willow leaned against the wall so that others could get their drink of choice. Shep joined her, about a foot separating them. Today, he was dressed in ivory-khaki pants and a dark-blue short-sleeved shirt. He’d recently trimmed his beard a bit, his longish brown-and-gold hair gleaming with highlights from the overhead chandelier hanging in the middle of the hall. “She doesn’t like men. Well,” she quickly amended, “that came out wrong. She had a really horrible childhood and was abused by a male relative in her family when very young. Since then, she’ll work with men, but she’s never had a relationship with one that I could find out about.”

Frowning, he murmured, “That’s too bad. Must have been really awful for her growing up?”

“Yeah, it was.” Willow didn’t want to go there. Shep might have to know some things about Dev, but he didn’t need her life story. “She seemed to perk up when Luke wandered over to her, that’s all.”

He sipped his coffee, watching his people mingle with the security team. Luke came over, poured two cups of coffee, then crossed back to the briefing room on the tail of Dev, who was also headed back in. “Well,” Shep drawled, giving Willow a slanted glance, “that seems hopeful.”

Her mouth quirked. “I can’t believe it. That would be a first. She gives every other guy the cold shoulder and tells them to pretty much fuck off.”

“Glad you haven’t said that to me,” and he meant it, holding her upturned gaze. Willow was so close that he inhaled the feminine scent that was only her. Shep had never realized the power of smell until he’d fallen in love with this willful woman. It wasn’t that she wore a perfume, and it wasn’t the soap she used. He would never forget the fragrance of her flesh. He saw Willow stare at him, wishing he could read her mind.

“We have to work together. Besides? You apologized to me. That meant a lot to me, Shep,” and she boldly held his stare.

“Maybe we needed time to grow up?” And then he quickly amended it with a sloppy grin, “Well, I needed that time far more than you did.”

“More like it,” she snorted, sipping her coffee, hiding her smile. Warmth flowed through her because she saw that softening in Shep’s eyes and she knew that look. Willow wasn’t going to say it was love. But maybe an offer of friendship? That would be nice. After all, it was the foundation they’d started out on in the first place.

Chuckling, he finished the coffee off and took the empty cup over to the white-linen-covered table. He returned to her, planting his hands on his hips. People began to return to the room for the second part of the project briefing. Once Willow was finished with her own coffee, he took her cup from her hand, their fingers touching briefly. It sent his heart yearning as he turned away.

Willow tried to remain immune to Shep’s nearness. Wishing he wasn’t so sensual; she pushed away from the wall and didn’t wait for him. She felt him wanting to establish some kind of emotional connection with her, but she wasn’t ready for that. Yes, he’d apologized, but she needed time. And besides, they were going to be so insanely busy flying up to ten flights or more a day, bringing supplies in, that they wouldn’t have any together time even if she wanted it.

She was surprised to see Luke sitting with Dev. They seemed relaxed, talking quietly between themselves. He had his elbows on his long, hard thighs, his cup of coffee held between them. Luke was a handsome man, no question. A little worried, she saw the pink in Dev’s cheeks. Plus, she seemed riveted to his every word. That wasn’t like her at all. Okay? So, what was going on? Willow would find out when they were alone.

Luke saw her and straightened. “I’m taking up your seat,” he said, rising, giving her a slight smile.

“No worries,” Willow assured him.

In another five minutes, everyone was squeezed into the air-conditioned room. Shep took the remote and Willow sat down, listening to his soothing voice. He had the kind of voice that had always calmed her whenever she’d come off a particularly tough mission. Before meeting Shep, it would take her hours to climb down off that adrenaline charge she rode when on a bombing run. His devastating smile, the warmth that lingered in his blue eyes, his low, husky voice all conspired to be a tranquilizer of sorts for her. She’d never experienced that with anyone else. Just Shep. Groaning internally, Willow gazed circumspectly around the room. The people selected by Delos cared. There wasn’t a single one among their ranks who was not listening intently or taking notes. That made her feel good. She was sure, before this year was out, she’d know every one of them.

Luke Gibson then stood up, took the remote and proceeded to give them their security briefing.

“Our biggest worry is a Somali named Tefere David,” he told them, flashing the man’s face up on the screen. “He’s the wild card here in the country. The Ethiopian Army is working directly with us regarding him. He’s a sex-trafficker and he’s a mercenary with five hundred plus child soldiers. He was down in southern Sudan, in the Darfur region for many years. That’s where he picked up these children and armed them with weapons.” Luke’s voice went hard. “He and his soldiers, over the last year, have attacked every village that Delos has a charity in. We’re not sure if it’s aimed at the charities, or if this is just his normal M.O. The worst part is that he’s kidnapped young girls and boys, between eight to fifteen, from each of these villages.”

Luke scowled, looking around at the people in the room. “The Ethiopian Army wants this bastard. Delos and Shield Security are working 24/7/365 with the general of the Northern Province where we’ll be located. If they spot Tefere, we receive an immediate call. Or, if we spot him, we call the general’s HQ. Tefere’s armed, he’s dangerous and he’s sneaky as hell. Often, he’ll send one of his child soldiers, usually mid-teens, into a village, pretending to need help. A family will take the child in, feed and help him, and then he’ll do his undercover work of locating the other young kids, which hut, which family. After about a month? He’ll gather the intel and give it to Tefere, who will launch a raid, usually fifty armed men, and capture those targeted children. Tefere and his men are the type that fire first and don’t bother asking questions later.”

Luke leaned down to the mic, putting his serious scowl on for real, and continued, “Which is why you will always carry a sidearm on you. If you’re not working, you’re sleeping with it within hand’s reach. You’re all expert qualified. And most of you are in the military, undercover, which can only help if he ever does attack our position.”

A hand rose.

“Yes, Charlie?”

“What’s the SOP, Luke? We’re in the construction business, and we’re focused mainly on what we’re supposed to be building.”

Luke, naturally understanding ‘SOP’ as jargon for ‘standard operating procedure’, replied, “At this town, my people will have wheels. There are four white Toyota Hilux’s on the road as we speak, headed out from Bahir Dar. They’ll arrive at Addis Zemen around about 2300 tonight.” He grinned a little, and continued, “That’s eleven p.m. to the few civilian types among us.”

---