Page 2 of Zain

Rami would go to the ends of the earth to find his brother, but she couldn’t pass on the tip she’d been given. One, she didn’t have enough proof Zain was alive. Two, Rami had a whole life now with Ivy Hastings, and not only was he ridiculously in love, but he also had a company to run with his business partner. Jetting off to Afghanistan ona whim could chew up weeks or months, and it could all be for nothing if she didn’t get more intel.

Besides the single profile picture that matched Zain’s in a facial-recognition search, there was only one other clue she’d found that had prompted her to book a flight to Peshawar, Pakistan, and rope Brick into the shenanigans too.

“I think he’ll get over being shorthanded if we come back with his missing brother,” Brick said dryly. “Not to mention I was just on a job in Canada for the last five weeks. I’m on vacation for the next two.”

Dana grabbed her favorite hoodie and pulled it over her head. Once they got closer to their destination, she’d purchase proper attire for Afghanistan.

“Uber’s here,” Brick said. “I’ll be there in fifteen. You sure you want to go through with this? You know as well as I do Afghanistan is the least safe place for a woman.”

For a flicker of an instant, Brick’s words threatened to steal the confidence that had rooted itself in her gut the moment she’d made up her mind to find Zain. Yes, this mission was perilous. She was at a great disadvantage as a woman, but with Brick as her companion, she wouldn’t draw as much unwanted attention.

Not until she got close to Jaysh, the terrorist group they believed held Zain.

“I’m sure.” Her voice wavered, though. “MaybeI’m as twisted as you. This desk job is killing me.”

Brick barked out a laugh. “Suit yourself, Mrs. Slater.”

She chuckled. Having an alias was one thing, but pretending to be married to Brick was another. In Afghanistan, traveling without a man was largely frowned upon. They needed to have the same last name on their passports to prove their fake marriage, and Brick had borrowed a slim wedding band from his mother and one from his father as well.

“I’ll meet you downstairs.” She disconnected and stared at her small carry-on bag. She was traipsing across the globe to the most dangerous country in the world with only the necessities. There was no point checking a larger bag as they’d need to get to Zain and get out as quickly as possible.

She dropped back her head and stared at the ceiling. If Brick hadn’t seen the same evidence she had, she’d have thought she was losing her mind. But it was unlikely they’d both gone insane.

She barely knew Brick. He’d been away on a lot of jobs since she started at Backcountry Protection Services. But if her brother and the other guys trusted him, that was good enough for her. Rami and Toth had chosen only the strongest ex-military guys they knew to work for their bodyguard security company.

After snagging her bag, she walked through her apartment and made sure the appliances were unplugged and everything was as it should be.

In case she didn’t return.

Her stomach churned at the thought of her mom, her dad, and her brother, Taschen, having to go through her belongings and deal with her death. Taschen had been fighting overseas when she was with the FBI. Her parents had aged drastically during those years, and now that both their children were safe and no longer putting their lives at risk, they were happy.

But she couldn’t stifle the need to help people. If Zain was alive, she’d find him. And if he was dead, she’d do her damn best to find that out. Because no one deserved to go their whole lives not knowing if their child or sibling was suffering.

She locked her apartment door and moved quickly to the elevator. A familiar sense of urgency washed over her. She’d been a field agent for only three of the six years she’d been with the bureau. The other three, she’d been an analyst and loved it. She was good at tracking data. Good at finding inconsistencies and consistencies and seeing outside of the box.

But part of her had missed carrying a gun. Missed the adrenaline and the rush.

Well, she was back at it.

And her mom was gonna kill her.

CHAPTER 2

“Keep your eyesdown,” Brick commanded. She stayed close to his side as they walked through the streets of Kabul.

She wanted to point out that she couldn’t scan the crowd for Zain’s face if her damn gaze was on her feet. Every inch of her face was concealed behind a niqab, and the cloak of material made her feel invisible. Less vulnerable. Still, keeping her eyes in check was hard. She wanted to look for Zain.

They’d rested at a hotel in Peshawar, and then Brick’s friend Ali arranged for his men to drive them into Kabul, Afghanistan, where a protest was about to take place. Flying into the neighboring country and then driving across the border made things a little less dangerous, especially for Dana. Now they were in the thick of an angsty crowd, though.

Definitely not an ideal situation. But through recent footage she’d found online, she’d discoveredthat Zain—or his doppelgänger—had captured prisoners at previous protests and riots.

If they had any shot of finding Zain, this was it.

Men shouted in Pashto or Persian, she couldn’t be sure which language. Women circulated, too, all dressed similarly to Dana. They held signs with messages written in Arabic. No one met her eye. But dread crawled up her spine.

Every fiber in her being screamed they were in danger. Not only were they clustered among the group egging on the Taliban, but from what she’d gathered, they were pissing off Jaysh too. Brick had explained that the men and women of Kabul were fed up with the lack of safety—enough to risk their lives in hopes of change.

The rattling of engines stirred the air. The screaming crowd got louder. Brick’s hand wrapped around her wrist and protectively tugged her to his side. She stayed close, letting his six-foot-something frame swallow her up.

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