licked her lips. “What the hell are you doing here, Serena?” she murmured.
When Charley had asked her to go to D.C. and make the connection with Ajax and Ryker, Serena hadn’t known a thing about the mission these men would be asked to accomplish. She hadn’t known they would be going into Ethiopia. And she sure as shit hadn’t known Charley would require Serena to accompany them.
Serena had worked for Charley for two years. She wasn’t kidding when she said she’d never met the woman. She didn’t even know where Charley lived. All she knew was that she made a substantial amount of money working the backend for some of Charley’s jobs.
She rarely knew all the details of any given mission, and everything about Charley’s work was sketchy. But what Serena did know was that Charley had made it her life’s mission to help people, and often those people had been wronged.
How on earth Charley knew so much about the people she hunted down and brought into the fold, Serena would likely never understand. She’d learned to never ask questions. What kept her on the team was knowing she was helping other people every day of the week. Usually several people.
Serena had quickly come to realize that the men and women she was directed to meet up with and arrange for their employment were almost always in a dire situation themselves. A situation they were not responsible for.
In Ajax and Ryker’s case, the two of them had been set up for some reason. Their lives had been stolen without their knowledge by someone covering his or her own butt. Serena knew for a fact Ajax and Ryker had not done what the military accused them of. Her certainty stemmed from the knowledge that this was Charley’s MO every time.
This particular mission was complex. A lot of lives had been destroyed this time. Eight of them to be precise, not to mention their families. Serena prayed the six men being held somewhere in this region were still alive. She had no reason to believe they would be. No matter who took them captive in the first place, it was unlikely that entity would bother to keep them alive.
On the flip side, if the six SEALs were dead, there was a good chance their captors would have broadcast their murder all over the planet. That was what they did. Serena knew that better than most people.
She shuddered as she ran a hand through her hair, her fingers dragging through the long strands until the hair finally floated free around her shoulders.
She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to chase away the demons. After ten years, she was back in Ethiopia. After Charley had instructed her to take this job, Serena had spent two days pacing and worrying. She’d considered telling Charley no. That would have been risky. She could’ve gotten fired. She hadn’t been sure if she cared.
The thing that stopped her was the constant nagging sensation that she was to be an integral part of this mission. Like she’d insinuated to Ajax, she wasn’t certain what her role was, but she had her suspicions. After all, she’d lived here for fourteen years. Half her life. She knew the area. She especially knew the Tigray region.
It would not come as a surprise tomorrow if their liaison informed them they would be heading north into the thick of things. The very part of the country Serena knew more about than just about any other American citizen.
“Serena?” The voice coming through the door made her gasp softly as she spun around. She opened the door to find Ajax standing on the other side. The man was wearing nothing but a pair of cotton shorts. Jesus. He got sexier every time she saw him.
She’d found him attractive when she first stepped into the meeting room two weeks ago, even though he’d had three months of hair growth and beard. Something about his eyes… The way he looked at her.
She still wanted to kick herself for not recognizing the two of them at Dulles airport. She should have known they would clean up before heading to Ethiopia. And though the whole mountain man image had worked for Ajax, she’d done a one-eighty and shifted gears when she set eyes on full military Ajax.
Ryker was attractive too, but something about Ajax got under her skin. Probably because he was constantly all up in her business, asking hard questions, meeting and holding her gaze until