with the man he trusted. It was important to him.” She stared him in the eyes. “I’d be the same. I trust you. If it was important, I’d go to you, Novak.”
He went still. “Don’t trust me too much, Jill. That’s what I told Gideon. I only do what I can.” His lips twisted. “And since I’m such a selfish bastard, what I can do sometimes alters from minute to minute.”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”
“No?” He gazed at her for a long moment. Heat. It came lightning fast out of nowhere. Taking her breath away. She couldn’t look away from him. “Well, I did warn you,” he said as he took out his computer. “Let’s get to work. I’ll show you how to look up the address and directions and coordinate it into the drone’s memory.”
She was relieved that electric moment had passed. Or was she? She was feeling a strange sense of loss. Of course she was. “It sounds complicated.” She came closer to look down at the screen. Then she was beginning to get excited again at the challenge before her. “You’re sure it won’t take more than an hour or so?”
* * *
It took an hour and five minutes to program the two drones.
It was not nearly as complicated as she had thought to learn the codes and keep them straight. She had followed Novak’s lead, and it was like learning a new game that was as absorbing as it was exciting. She found she was disappointed when she had put in the last equation. “Is that all?”
Novak was grinning. “Unless you want to teach it something else. We’re supposed to be gathering information, but I suppose we could rig up a bomb or two to drop on that compound.”
“No, that would be breaking your word to Gideon.” She was still looking at the computer screen. “It’s very sophisticated, isn’t it?”
“State of the art.” He held up his hand. “But I can see you already creating a story about it. Don’t do it. Drones are constantly being upgraded, but this one is very special.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “But it was great fun. Thank you for letting me play with it.”
“My pleasure. It was fun watching you. Your cheeks are still flushed, and your eyes are shining like those of a kid opening a Christmas present.” He chuckled. “Next time I’ll show you how to set the bomb capability.”
“It was fascinating.” Her smile suddenly faded. “And dangerous. Bombs and all those technical spy devices…I shouldn’t be this excited. I just got caught up in the moment. It’s not a game.”
“It’s whatever you make it.” He signed out of the program. “And for you it was a game and a story unfolding and excitement.”
“But not for you.”
“No. Much darker,” he said. “But it was good stepping into your world for a little while.” He turned to look at her. “Maybe I’ll remember it when it gets a little too dark in mine.” He reached down and pulled her to her feet. “Now go to Hajif’s and get to sleep. You should still have a few hours.”
Heat, again. Out of nowhere. Tingling through her body, causing her breasts to swell. She quickly pulled her hand away. “Hardly seems worth it.”
“I don’t suppose I could talk you into not getting up when we take off? There’s no reason why you should.”
Other than the fact that she should be going with him. The darkness of which he’d spoken was suddenly overwhelming her. This was her fight as well as his, and now he was going to face the monster while she was supposed to stay here and snooze. “There’s a reason,” she said tightly. “You know there’s a reason.” She turned on her heel. “I’ll see you at six.”
A few minutes later, she had reached Hajif’s hut. She stood outside the door, breathing hard. She couldn’t go in right now, she was too upset. She sank down on the ground and leaned back against the wall. Her hands clenched into fists.
She hated it. She felt helpless, and it shouldn’t be like this. She was the one who had gone to Novak in the beginning and asked him to help her go after Varak. Now he was going to leave her behind when she was responsible for everything that had happened since that night? Reason told her that she would not be an asset if she insisted on going with Novak. She had no military experience and might even be a