Page 36 of Strangers in Love

Or at least with the least amount of permanent damage as possible.

And I didn’t only mean physical. This wasn’t an experience that someone could breeze through, set aside, ‘get over’ in some simple way. I would eventually have to deal with my feelings about what was happening, but I intended to keep my positive outlook and stay focused on the hope of my parents’ saving me. Giving in to the despair that I saw the others slipping into more and more would only make matters worse.

Despite my pep talk to myself, however, I couldn’t stop hearing the sound Gia had made, seeing the terror at the thought of what that man would do to her. Couldn’t help thinking if I would hear someone die the way Hammond and Dana had. If it would be someone I knew.

I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up.

Twenty-Six

Eoin

Brody would’ve been betterat this than me, I thought as I looked around at the rest of the team. Cain had come up with a backstory to get us in and out of Iran without suspicion – or at least with as little suspicion as possible – and my parents’ plane had been the inspiration.

The five of us were playing wealthy tourists, with me in the ‘leader of the pack’ role just in case someone decided to do a check on the plane. Since it was registered to my father, I could look like the typical rich asshole who was living off his parents’ dime.

Not that Brody was an asshole. He wasn’t. That part of the role was definitely more me than him. And I’d always been more of the partier too, but I’d never been the life of the party. I’d been more ‘the guy who sat in the corner, did drugs and drank, while glaring at everyone else.’ Even when I’d hooked up at a party, I’d still been angry.

I’d been angry at the world.

Brody wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t let people walk all over him or push him around, but he was the sort of easy-going, charming guy that everyone liked to be around. That was the part that would’ve made it easier for him to play this role. Smiling and laughing had never been easy for me. It’d gotten better in the army, which was backward from what most people would think, but after…what’d happened, it was harder than ever. And I’d never been good at pretending to be something or someone I wasn’t.

But I’d do my damnedest if it meant getting Aline home safely to her family.

“You get any sleep?” Cain asked as he sat down across from me. “Jet lag is going to be hell.”

I shrugged. “I got a couple hours.”

The look he gave me made me think he knew the reason why I’d only gotten a little sleep, but he didn’t ask me about it. We didn’t talk about shit like that unless someone brought it up themselves. Which we didn’t do.

“Thank your parents for letting us use the plane,” he said instead. “Freedom’s family could’ve rented one for us, but I don’t know how quickly we could’ve gotten it. Every minute counts.”

“The time difference bites,” I said. “We’re basically going to have two days to find her, come up with a plan, and get her out.”

“And do it all under the radar enough so we don’t get caught and have all of our asses thrown in prison,” Cain added.

“But no pressure.” Dez leaned over the back of my seat. “Just so you know, if we go to jail, I’m not anybody’s bitch.”

“I finally got Freedom’s list of people at Neutral Ground to talk to,” Cain said, ignoring Dez’s comment. “Eoin, I want you to take them. Dez, I want you talking to the cops. I have the names of the men Freedom talked to there.”

“What’s my assignment?” Bruce asked from where he was sitting.

“You’re in bars, seeing what the locals have heard.”

I assumed that meant he spoke Persian, but I didn’t ask.

“Fever, you and I are covering all the bad guys. See if we can’t get someone to turn in a rival.”

As Dave came over the intercom to tell us that we’d be making our descent in ten minutes, I told myself that we could do this. We had a plan, and we had the skills. We would bring Aline home.

And fuck anyone who tried to stop us.

* * *

Channelingmy older brother while we settled in at the hotel seemed to make the right impression. Every employee we saw smiled and greeted us in English. A few added comments about us reaching out to them for various things we might want to do. They could refer us to the best attractions, bazaars and museums and cultural centers. They could find us drugs. Women. They could tell us where to go for the most fun nightlife.

Between the five of us, we got all their names, and Bruce put them on his list to talk to. If nothing else, he’d get a place to start. Granted, Aline hadn’t been here as a tourist, but Neutral Ground wasn’t an organization that required their volunteers to stay on their grounds twenty-four seven. Since this had been the sisters’ first time in Iran, we were guessing that they would’ve stuck to places that catered to tourists, which would most likely be the same places the hotel staff would send us.

It didn’t take us long to get the necessary stuff unpacked, and the important stuff made accessible but out of sight. The last thing we needed was a maid accidentally finding our weapons. We put up the ‘do not disturb’ sign, but it was always possible someone might decide to sneak a look inside to see if there was anything worth taking.

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