Page 29 of Deceptive Lies

July 12th

12:16 A.M.

With the number of bullets being fired, there was not a chance in hell that they weren't going to wake the entire neighborhood.

While Cooper had no idea if the people in the area were friends of Mahmoud, if they were aware of or involved in the imprisonment of Willow, or if they would just call the cops, he did know there was every chance the professor would have at least one cop on his side.

Which meant the last thing he wanted was to get caught.

As he reached his car, he threw open the passenger side door, thrust Willow into the seat, snapped her seatbelt on, and then eased the weapon from her hands.

Silence.

Blessed silence.

“I think I got him,” Willow wheezed like she was the one who’d just run flat out down the street.

Maybe she hadn't exerted herself in that way, but with her injuries and obvious weakness likely from dehydration and starvation, justpulling herself out of her prison, over the fence, and then laying down cover fire so they could get away had obviously tapped her out.

“You did amazing,” he told her, scanning the dark night. Getting rid of whoever had been shooting at them gave them a fighting chance at escaping, but it didn't guarantee it.

“Didn't want you to get hurt because of me,” she mumbled, words starting to slur as her eyelashes fluttered on her cheeks. Then she was out.

As badly as he wanted to check her out now and determine how badly she was hurt, if he had to chance a hospital, if he could handle them himself, if she was stable enough to fly. The best option was to call Prey for an evac, Cooper knew they couldn’t risk staying there a second longer.

Keeping his weapon in his hand, he closed Willow’s door, hurried around, and jumped into the driver’s seat. Seconds later, he took off as fast as he dared down the street. Lights were beginning to flicker on in the houses around Mahmoud’s and he wished he knew what Willow did about the man so he had some idea of what he was up against.

Thankfully, Willow’s ability to shoot meant he had a clear ride out and he took it.

This late at night, there were still quite a few cars on the street as soon as he left the residential area and got back into the main part of Cairo. His hotel was nice, and while he was going to draw attention to himself carrying Willow inside, with the long black clothes she still wore, it wasn't likely that anyone would suspect he’d just rescued her from a hell one of their own people had put her through.

Even with her sitting passed out in his car he couldn’t quite believe it.

This was not at all how he had envisioned his trip to Egypt going. A few days there to gather all the intel he could from Tarek Mahmoud, then head home to dissect it with his brothers. That was all that was supposed to happen. Instead, he had a kidnap victim who was now his responsibility to take care of and protect.

Although Willow could certainly hold her own.

The drive to his hotel was eventless, and by the time he was parked and rounding his car, Cooper could feel exhaustion tugging at his mind.Just because this trip had taken a wildly different turn didn't mean it wasn’t mentally exhausting. For almost two decades, he and his siblings had carried around the weight of what happened to their parents and the deep injustice of it.

Now that he was possibly teetering on the precipice of blowing this whole thing wide open, it was like all those years, all that weight, had caught up to him all at once.

Unbuckling Willow’s seatbelt, he paused to look down at her. Even with the bruises marring her soft skin, she was beautiful, and in sleep she looked so peaceful and angelic. How could anybody hurt something this gorgeous? What did she know that had gotten her abducted and tortured? And was it possible it was in any way connected to what happened to his mother?

Answers would have to wait until Willow was strong enough to give them. Right now, she needed rest, time to recover, and let her body bounce back a bit.

When he gathered her into his arms, she stirred, a small moan falling from her lips. Since he wasn't sure if it was from pain or fear, he touched his lips to her temple in a kiss that felt far too natural given he’d met this woman only hours ago.

“Shh, honey, I've got you,” he murmured.

At the sound of his voice, she immediately settled back down, and Cooper bumped the door closed with his hip, then carried her inside.

Thankfully, the hotel lobby was mostly quiet, although several workers and a couple of guests gave him odd looks when they saw him carrying a figure bundled in black in his arms.

“My wife didn't sleep the whole flight here and then crashed in the car,” he explained to no one in particular as he strode toward the lifts.

It wasn't until he was safely in his room, with the door locked behind him, that he actually felt his body relax. They were safe there. There was a chance—probably a good one—that Mahmoud would associate Willow’s abrupt rescue with him. The shooting had likely woken him, and even now, he might be aware of the fact that she was gone. Even with his contacts, it would take the professor a while to locate the hotel where he was staying, so they should be safe for the night.

Tomorrow, he’d check out and check them in at another hotel under an alias. He’d brought a couple of different IDs with him, not that he’d thought he would use them, but it was better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

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