Page 52 of A Silent Reckoning

Jozef sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. Finally, he looked at her.Yes, of course I did. Your work with laser technology is brilliant. The only reason no one else has used it is because your work is buried in medical journals that are nearly indecipherable. No one outside of the medical profession would read them.

She scowled at him, her blood beginning to boil with self-righteous anger. Not only was he stealing her life’s work and using it to make weapons, but now he was calling the papers she wrote boring and impenetrable.

She straightened her back and glared at him, signing so she wouldn’t be overheard by any of his people.Did you think about how I would feel when I found out about this?

You weren’t supposed to find out.

I’m not blind or stupid. I would’ve noticed eventually.

He sighed and reached for her, but she stepped out of his reach and jabbed the elevator button angrily before signing,every time we establish some semblance of trust between us, you destroy it. How am I supposed to live like this? Every corner I turn there’s something new and terrible that I have to learn to live with. Eventually I’m going to find something I can’t live with, Jozef.

Lower your expectations, he signed.

“What?” she said out loud.

The elevator door opened behind her.

Maybe if you stop expecting me to be someone I’m not, you’ll learn to live with me.

She stepped into the elevator, her happy mood evaporating. “Maybe if we keep arguing about this, you’ll be the one wanting to escape me.”

He stepped into the elevator and wrapped an arm around her waist. He dragged her against his chest and kissed her, his lips taking hers with harsh intent. He was imprinting himself on her, his tongue lashing the inside of her mouth in a one-way dance.

As the elevator started to close, he flung an arm out, hitting the metal doors. They opened again. Karl slipped inside the elevator and did his best to look like an uninterested bystander.

Jozef stepped back, his striking deep blue eyes on Shaun’s face.Never. I will never let you go.

He let the doors go.

Just before they closed, Shaun shouted, “Don’t you dare die! We’re not done talking about this.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Mogadishu had never been one of Jozef’s favourite places. It was hot and smelled like mildew and dirt. The red zone, where they were currently hiding out, smelled like shit too, from improper sewage disposal in that part of the city. They had to be constantly vigilant so as not to get caught up in the ongoing violence between sectors. The poverty was nearly overwhelming.

Ordinarily poverty in a region he was travelling through wouldn’t bother Jozef. He’d travelled the world, seen poverty of every kind.

Now, he was looking at it through Shaun’s eyes. Everywhere he looked he saw starving children, women prostituting themselves to feed their families, injustice.

“Ali, go get us something to eat,” Cooper said from his cot, where he was laying with his hands twined behind his head, staring at the ceiling. “I’m fucking sick of rations.”

“Why me?” Ali demanded.

Cooper pushed himself up to stare down the smaller tech guy. “You’re the only one of us who can blend in.”

Ali took immediate offence. “Fuck you, Coop. I don’t know if you noticed but I don’t look even close to fitting in here. They’ll take one look at me and peg me as a foreigner before I even open my mouth.”

Ali wasn’t far from the truth. Though he was the only person of colour on their team, his skin tone was still several shades lighter than most of the citizens of Mogadishu.

Jozef looked at his team through new eyes. Most were poached from mob families throughout Eastern Europe and Russia. A few were foreign, from the United States, Ireland and Egypt. No women. No one with darker skin than Ali. For the first time he contemplated the advantages of hiring for more diversity. The team could blend in better, depending on the region they worked in. A woman would be able to access places that men couldn’t.

Damn. Shaun was getting into his head. Making him think things he’d never thought about before. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Of course, he loved having her in his life, but it was an uncomfortable realization. He and the men on his team were far more privileged than most of the people in Mogadishu and surrounding areas.

Ali and Cooper were still arguing when Havel grunted, “No one’s leaving. We have enough rations to get us through until we get the green light on our mission. Shut up and relax, boys.”

Jozef stood and headed for the door.

“What about him?” Cooper asked. “Why’s he allowed to leave?”

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