Page 53 of Croatia Collateral

“And you need someone to have your back,” she insisted.

“You heard Maas. If they recapture you, Maas will use you to get to me.” Dax’s gaze held hers. “I’d tell them anything they wanted to know to keep them from hurting you.”

“You can’t,” she said. “The needs of the many... You know the saying. My single life is insignificant compared to the lives of millions.”

“It’s significant to me,” he said. “Promise.”

“If I don’t?”

He sighed. “You’re a stubborn woman.”

“You’re a stubborn man.”

“It broke my heart when I lost my wife.” He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t know if I could live through losing another person I care so deeply about.”

A smile curled her lips. “You care about me?”

He nodded. “More than I thought I could.” Dax snorted softly. “Against my better judgment. I don’t know how it happened so fast, but it did. Please,” he begged, “don’t die.”

She cupped his face in her hand, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye. “I’ll do my best not to. Whatever this is between us...I want it to last.” Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. “Forever.”

They kissed and clung to each other like lovers about to take their last breaths.

As much as she hated leaving Dax, she knew he’d be better off going in alone. If they tortured her, he’d cave. Once they had the information they wanted, they’d kill both of them anyway. Then, there would be no one to warn the world.

“I’m going for help,” Giva said.

Dax nodded. “I’m going back to stall or stop Maas.”

Giva pushed the pistol toward him. “Take it. You might need it more than I will. A pistol is better than nothing against a submachine gun or semi-automatic rifle.

He shook his head. “Too dangerous. I have the stun gun and the plastic knife. I’ll be creative.” He winked, rolled out from beneath the table and held out his hand to help her up. He gave her the code for the keypads and then gave her one last, hard kiss.

He turned and headed back toward the command center, disappearing through a door into a narrow, stone passage.

For a moment, Giva stared after Dax, a hard lump lodged in her throat. Would they live through the night? Of course, they would.

She refused to believe otherwise.

But first, she had a job to do. If she was to help him, she had to get out quickly and return with the cavalry.

Chapter 12

Dax slipped through the passages, grateful these tunnels were lit and trying to recall the number and direction of turns he needed to make to reach the command center. All the while, he had to move quickly and silently so as not to alert any guards the Nexus Collective might have posted along the way.

He suspected they’d made a circle through the tunnels when they’d been taken to the dungeon. Returning to the massive room with the conference table had been a miracle. He wasn’t sure he could retrace his steps back the other route. They’d been running too fast and making snap decisions on directions. With guards hot on their heels, Dax hadn’t had the opportunity to memorize the turns.

When he arrived at the first of the doors, he keyed the code and stood back, expecting a guard to be standing there ready to shoot.

No one was there.

He ran along the stone tunnel, arriving at the next door. Again, he entered the code and stood back in the shadows.

As soon as the door opened, a rifle’s barrel poked through.

The door didn’t remain open long. As it reversed direction, the guard started to back up.

Dax reached out, grabbed the barrel of the rifle and yanked it and the guard through the door.

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