Page 38 of Deceptive Lies

She gave a small chuckle, but when he tangled their fingers together, he could feel the tension radiating off her.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about that.

If he could wave a magic wand, erase the bruises littering her body, wipe away the terror and fear she’d experienced, transport her back home where she would be safe, and put Tarek Mahmoud in a prison cell he absolutely would.

But he couldn’t.

All he could do was work with what he had at the moment. Even if it wasn't a lot.

“You're really going to help me with my article?” Willow asked as they followed the other tourists along a wooden plank and through a narrow door.

They walked through the covered colonnade, Cooper hyper-aware of everything around them. With the time of year and the heat of summer in Egypt, more people were there than he would have thought, which both helped and made things harder.

What he needed was a quiet place to circle around and take down the men following them from behind. He could not do that when there were too many witnesses. While he wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who was a threat to Willow, and he was confident Eagle could get him out of any mess, he didn't enjoy leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

Until he got that opportunity, he’d just stick with the crowd. Not a great plan, but again, the best he had right now.

“Not walking away, Willow,” he told her. Something inside him urged him to add a qualifier. Not walking away until. Only … he wasn't sure what the until was. The sensible thing to do would be to say he wasn't walking away until she was safe, and Tarek Mahmoud was sitting in a prison cell.

But that didn't feel right.

There was something between them, he liked her, respected her, and wanted to get to know more about her. Crazy given they’d spent less than twenty-four hours in one another’s company, but that was how he felt.

At the back of his mind—not that he’d ever given it a lot of conscious thought—was that if he was ever going to fall in love, he’d know it was that person when he met them. While, of course, he wasn't implying he loved Willow, he didn't even really know her, it was just that what he did know about her was enough to know that she could be someone he could fall in love with.

Which was not what he should be thinking about right now.

“I know we’re being followed, but wow,” Willow said, gazing at the pyramid across a sandy open space from where they were standing. “Itreally is amazing. I know we said that already, but standing in front of something like that makes you feel small, but not in a bad way.”

Willow was right, seeing the pyramids was an awe-inspiring experience, and he wanted it to be only one of many that she got to experience over her life. He wanted her to be able to go up to Lapland, visit Santa, go on a reindeer-pulled sled ride through a snowy winter wonderland, and see the glory of the northern lights. To make all her dreams come true.

To do that he had to get her out of this alive.

His gaze scanned about as they continued to stroll along with the other tourists. Below them was a sandy maze of paths and rooms leading to small underground chambers. There had to be a spot down there he could separate from the crowd, get Willow hidden, and make a move.

“You ready to do this?” he whispered to Willow as he guided her over to the steps leading down.

“More than ready,” she said, fierce bravery ringing in her tone.

“Plan is to head down, break away from the group, you hide, and I show the professor that he’s messing with the wrong people.”

In theory, it sounded easy, but as he knew all too well, all it took was one wrong move for everything to fall apart.

July 12th

1:42 P.M

Her heart raced and her palms were clammy.

Willow prayed that whatever Cooper had planned worked out. Because if it didn't, neither of them would leave Egypt alive.

As she huddled in the sand, hidden behind a stone wall, she wished they’d come up with a different plan. Cooper had told her he believed them pretending to be tourists for a few days would give them a better chance at getting out of the country alive. She’d agreed. He’d also told her he believed that if he called for his team—made up of his three brothers and two stepbrothers—to fly out there theycould make Professor Mahmoud believe Prey was coming after him, guns blazing.

Which put the two of them in more danger since they were there in the country.

At the time, she’d agreed with that decision, too. She knew the professor and had been watching him for almost a year, gathering intel, verifying sources, finding informants, and building her case so she could dismantle his plans before he built enough of an army to change the world as they knew it.

Now she wished they’d thrown caution to the wind and just tried to leave the country last night or had his brothers fly in to back them up.

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