Page 88 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

Kira had filled that part of his soul. The part that had been empty and alone. The part that had fought to live even though the danger of the monster had passed. And he prayed that Tehya would find it as well.

* * *

Twenty-three

SHE HAD NEVER IMAGINED WHAT kind of life Tehya had endured.

Kira slipped into Ian's room from the balcony, barely glancing at Deke as he rose from the chair by the bed as she escaped to the bathroom.

She felt sick inside. She knew Tehya, she had met her in France nearly six years before. They had had coffee as Kira watched a French diplomat sell classified documents to a Russian agent. They had spent the weekend shopping, laughing, and being girls. Two strangers in a strange land, and Kira had never guessed the danger Tehya had been in.

She had suspected her to be a rival agent. For a while Kira had wondered if she were an assassin or part of a kidnapping team. But the other girl, though distant, her eyes often shadowed with pain, had never mentioned anything that Kira could have used to fuel her suspicions.

She had met her again in Afghanistan working with the Red Cross. Again in America, once again working with the Red Cross, just after Hurricane Katrina. She'd had no idea the hell the girl was living through. Damn, she'd had no idea how young she was or what she was searching for.

Safety. Protection from a monster. The identity of the monster. Why hadn't she put it together?

Kira slammed the bathroom door closed. Why hadn't she figured out that the kid was in trouble? Hell, she hadn't even known she was a kid. It was those eyes. Those wild, shattered, haunted eyes. She couldn't have been more than seventeen the first time Kira had met with her in France. Kira had assumed she was another agent. She had played the game when the girl had sat down at her table, leaned back and smiled and asked if the chair was taken. A very inexperienced agent. But Kira had played the game because all she was there to do was watch and make certain the exchange of information was completed.

God. Damn. Information targeted to Sorrell.

In Afghanistan, Tehya had worked with the Red Cross. The CIA had suspected the terrorist cells there to have ties to Sorrell.

Hurricane Katrina. Sorrell had used the devastation and chaos there to raid several government offices. Kira had tracked two of his men there and coordinated with the small team she had gone in with as they attempted to apprehend them.

Sorrell's men had not only escaped, but had escaped with classified files regarding several federal investigations into a terrorist network they had uncovered.

Tehya had been there.

The day she was leaving she had spotted the girl outside those offices, staring up at them, her eyes narrowed. As though she had known she was being watched, her gaze had found Kira's, locked with it, those haunted eyes shadowed and desperate.

And Kira had misread the desperation.

She lowered herself to the small cushioned chair in the corner of the opulent bathroom and pressed her fists into her eyes.

She had just watched that same girl endure being chained to the wall, dressed in nothing but her T-shirt and panties . . .

Terror had flashed in her eyes as Antoli Kovalyov chained her securely before pulling the black mask over his face. He had jerked her head back roughly by her long red hair, cupped her neck in his hands, and stared at the camera.

"We have your daughter, Sorrell." His hand had left her neck, gripped her hips with enough force to redden the skin, and jerked her around just enough for the camera to pan in on the birthmark. "As you can see, she carries your mark. You want her, you will now deal with Fuentes."

The camera had panned back to her face. Defiant, her eyes riotous with fear and fury, Tehya had glared at the lens with murderous rage.

God. She was nothing more than a kid. A kid that should have been in college, laughing with her friends, partying too much mayb

e. Kira fought the monsters in the world so kids like that would be safe, and she hadn't even noticed a child in danger when she had met her.

The bathroom door opened slowly. She heard it. She knew it was Ian, but she couldn't lift her head, couldn't take her fists from her eyes or, God help her, she would cry. And tears wouldn't help anything. It sure as hell wouldn't relieve the pain and fear Tehya had experienced.

"It will be over soon and she'll be safe." She felt Ian kneel in front of her, one hand pushing her hair over her shoulder as the other cupped her face. "It's not your fault, Kira. You can't save the world."

She sniffed, feeling like a child, like she had felt the morning her uncle had awakened her and told her that her parents were gone. She felt lost. And she felt responsible.

She shook her head.

"When my mother and I were running from Carmelita Fuentes all those years ago, I apologized. I told my mother how sorry I was that she was suffering because of me. That she should contact Diego. Tell him about me, and give me up so she would be free."

Kira lowered her fists, the first tear falling from her eyes as she glared back at him. "That wasn't acceptable."

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