Page 50 of Zero Hour

She blinked several times, then raised a hand to her cheek. “I think so. He hit me across the face so hard I nearly blacked out.”

“You might have a mild concussion. I’ll check you out when we get to mine.”

There was a brief pause while Blade navigated the sharp corners out of the neighborhood.

“Why are you taking me to your place?” she whispered.

“It’s the best option. You’ll be safe there and more comfortable than at the office. You can’t go home, and we’ve got to keep you out of sight. Al-Jabiri will want to silence you.”

“Oh, my God. Ryan.” Even in the dim interior of the van, he saw her pallor. “He’ll go after Ryan.”

Pat spoke into his earpiece. “Anna, tell Thorn to pick up the boy.”

“Understood,” came her terse reply.

Things had happened so fast he hadn’t had time to plan, but Jasmine was right. Now she’d escaped, they’d go after her son and use him as leverage to get her back. Or to buy her silence.

He turned to Jasmine. “We’re going to get him out, okay. He’ll be safe. Try and relax now.”

She nodded and leaned back in the seat, but her shoulders remained tense.

Blade dropped them off at Pat’s place and raced away. The Operations Manager was heading back to the office to coordinate the clean-up operation and retrieve the SUV. By now the police would be there, which would piss Al-Jabiri and his cousin right off. He hoped he hadn’t compromised the op.

When he’d seen Al-Jabiri launch himself at Jasmine, he knew he had to do something. Leaping out of the van, he’d kicked Blade out of the SUV and driven it into the wall. Thenhe’d raced around the house, knowing the two terrorists would come out the front.

The cops wouldn’t be able to trace the SUV back to Blackthorn Security. As with all their vehicles, they were registered to a shell company with a vague organizational structure. Blade would sort it out, and the terrorists might suspect, but wouldn’t be able to prove this wasn’t an accident.

The important thing was he’d gotten Jasmine out of there, before any real harm had come to her. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to install any listening devices, but at least they still had eyes in the house.

Right now, Pat wanted to get Jasmine comfortable. She was trembling, but the color was returning to her cheeks. When he’d first seen her in the backyard, she’d looked like a ghost.

“Come and sit down.” He helped her into his living room. It wasn’t as tidy as it should be, but then he hadn’t been home much lately.

“I’m okay.” He released her but gestured to the sofa. She sat down, still looking a little dazed. “I can’t believe you drove your SUV into a wall.”

He snorted. “I needed a distraction, and it was all I could think of at the time. If I’d come barging in guns blazing, I’d have ruined the entire op. But I couldn’t have him raping you, either.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. Pat knew she was thinking about what had almost happened.

“He’s a monster, Jasmine. A mass murderer. Do you think he considers your needs at all? You’re nothing to him.” It came out harsher than he’d intended, but it was true.

She gulped. “I know. I guess I was hoping to appeal to his human side.”

Pat tensed his jaw. “He doesn’t have one.”

Jasmine glanced up. “Why do you hate him so much?”

He shook his head. “It’s personal.”

“Tell me,” she whispered. “What did he do to you?”

Pat got up. “I’m going to grab a beer. Do you want anything? Coffee? Tea?”

She sighed. “Tea would be great.”

He left the room. It was a cop out, he knew that, but he couldn’t tell her about Astrid. He didn’t know how. It was a long, convoluted story, stemming back to his days as a Navy SEAL. Besides, Astrid hadn’t even been his wife, and yet… he’d loved her as much as he had Val. Two wonderful women, and he’d lost them both.

He rubbed his eyes. At least he’d had two shots at love. Some people didn’t get any.

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