Page 71 of Storm Warning

How could he say that? He had no idea. Too much information hit her at once and none of it good.

“Breathe, Remi, breathe.” He grabbed her hands. “Look at me.”

She blinked a few times, then stared at him, his face filledwith concern. Compassion. The cab filled with the sound of rain pummeling the truck and pavement.Focus on Hawk.

She drew in a breath, then released it. Then another. And another. In and out.

“Good, you’re doing great. Keep it up.”

Leaning back against the truck seat, she pulled her hands free from his and closed her eyes.

“Take your time,” he said.

But tell him everything.

She opened her eyes again to peer at Hawk.

“Look,” he said. “John already told me the operation name. He already gave me information, if you’re concerned that Operation Blackout was classified. He was basically reading me in.”

“Whoishe to read you in? For that matter, who is he to readmein? I’m notonthis mission, and I was never supposed to be part of it. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” She shook her head. “Classified or not, you need to know if you’re going to finish this with me, and we’ll deal with the fallout.”

“I’m good with that.”

She could do it. She had to tell someone. Hawk was it.

“I was at this café in the capital, Novograd. Sitting outdoors, taking in the sights. I planned to visit a castle that day.”

“For the travel blog,” he said.

“Yes. I hadn’t gotten up the nerve to start it. Maybe if I had, then we’d have that record. But I kept seeing this guy, you know? Thirties. Glasses.”

“You mean he was following you?”

“No. He kept coming to that same café. I was there for three days. I was taking shots of a gorgeous cathedral, you know, with the domes like you see in Russia. I decided to capture him in the photos. That’s when I realized thatsomeone was followinghim. I noticed the follower was packing too. I wasn’t sure what to do. Warn him? And put myself in danger? Or mind my own business and leave him to his own troubles? Then the strangest thing happened. He approached and asked if he could sit at my table and then he sat down before I could respond.”

“What would you have said?”

“I would have said yes. It would give me a chance to warn him. He smiled and spoke very good English, but with an accent. Turned out he wasn’t happy that I had taken his picture. I showed him the pictures, and that’s when I told him he was being followed.

“A bullet grazed the chair he was in. We both ducked. People screamed. I’m not sure if he grabbed me or I grabbed him, but the next thing you know, we’re running down alleyways, and I was lost. But now and then, whoever was after him would catch up and bullets would fly again. Hitting much too close for comfort. I did what I could to protect this stranger, pushing him into doorways, yanking him down other alleys, whatever it took to cover and protect him so the bullets wouldn’t hit either of us. I guess my former military training just kicked in or maybe it was the will to survive.”

Remi shook her head. “We ducked into a church and hid in the confessional. Not sure how long we were there, but it had to be hours. He said he was trying to escape the country and asked if I could help him get to his extraction point.”

“Why would he want you to do that?”

“I think he was scared, for one thing. Plus, he knew that I was an American and had been in the Army.” She shrugged. “When you’re hiding in a confessional, you say a lot of things. Like, I learned his name was Sergei Petrov. I had helped him stay alive so far, and so he seemed desperate for me to stick with him until, and I quote, ‘the Americansget him out.’ At first, he even believed that I was part of the extraction team, sent there to watch over him and assist him to the meeting place. To be honest, at that point, I felt I needed an extraction too. I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into.”

His expression remained grim. Serious. “Where were the Zarovian police?”

“Oh, they showed up, searching the city. We slipped out of the church late at night and headed into the countryside. Sergei warned me against talking to them. He was a wanted man, and I had just helped him. I decided I’d be better off letting the Americans who were extracting him figure this out, so I agreed to help him get to the extraction point. We found our way to a small village at the base of the Carpathian Mountains, then we were extracted.”

“Give me the details.”

“Soldiers—American soldiers—showed up. We didn’t even know they were there. Two of them. They took us to wait for a helicopter. There was an argument at first over taking me too, but Sergei refused to go without me. He was bluffing, of course, but if I stayed behind, then I was going to be running anyway. The helicopter started lifting off, and I climbed up the ladder. Another soldier was behind me, but Cole reached for me. I wasn’t over water or in the desert like I initially thought.”

“So, Cole was there to help initially.” Hope rose in his eyes.

I haven’t finished the story!

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