not without a fair exchange of information.
“Do you need anything to drink?” I asked, accepting my role as hostess.
“Nothing, thanks. I’d like you to tell me what you know about Jeremy Taylor,” he said, leaning forward. His dress hat was in his hand; his eyes trapped mine with a look strong enough to break men, but I refused to be intimidated by the man who’d held me and grieved with me. “I believe I already told you I hired Mark as a handyman. He’s finished a number of projects here at the inn.” I pointed out a couple he could see from where he sat. The fireplace mantel was one of the projects Mark had completed. Some days I caught myself running my hands over the smooth wood in an effort to feel connected with Mark, to feel a link to him through his work.
Dennis slowly shook his head, as if he found the very idea unfathomable. “A handyman? Unbelievable.”
“Why’s that?”
“What is the last communication you received from him?” he asked, ignoring my question.
“Why is it unbelievable that Mark was a handyman?” At the look of disbelief, I felt I had to ask.
“Mark was a highly trained, highly specialized officer” was all Dennis was willing to tell me. “He could have taken on any number of high-paying civilian jobs.”
“He was in intelligence?” I pressed.
The lieutenant colonel’s mouth narrowed and he slowly nodded as if grudgingly giving up the information. “You mentioned you’d heard from him recently…?” He left the question hanging.
Not so fast. “He had help getting into Iraq, didn’t he?”
The narrowed, intense gaze was back. “I can’t discuss that, Jo Marie.”
That told me he had. “Next question. If you got him into the country, then why can’t you get him out?” I pressed.
Dennis shook his head, indicating this was something else he couldn’t discuss. Fine. I crossed my arms and legs and said nothing.
“I need to know when you last heard from him,” Dennis fired back.
“Why?”
“It’s important.”
I weighed my need to learn what I could against any possibility withholding information would harm Mark’s chances of escape.
“Why is it important?”
Dennis kept his eyes steadfastly focused on me, not giving anything away. “If I could tell you that, I would, but I can’t. It’s classified.”
“Of course it is,” I murmured.
“I take it you have feelings for this man?” He tried another tactic.
“Did I say that?” I raised my eyebrows with the question.
“You implied it. Otherwise, why would you contact me?”
“It was a friendly inquiry.” I wasn’t willingly handing him ammunition.
Dennis grinned, as if my answer told him everything he wanted to know. “Is that a fact?”
“It is.” I wasn’t wavering.
He seemed to be carefully weighing his words. “The information you have might be a matter of life or death,” he said, growing serious once more.
“Mark’s life?” I wasn’t going to make assumptions.
“Mark and…others.” This last part was added in a low whisper.
“What others?”
He glared back at me.
“Give me a name.”
He blinked.
“Give me a name,” I repeated. As much as I liked and admired Paul’s commanding officer, I wasn’t completely sure I should trust him. Mark may have gone into Iraq with government assistance, but that didn’t mean he was working with them now. “Any name,” I repeated. “I need to know you have Mark’s back.”
For the first time since we’d sat across from each other, Dennis broke eye contact. “Ibrahim.”
A shiver went down my spine. It was a name, but I might have mentioned it to him in our earlier conversation.
“Not good enough.”
His eyes were piercing and intense. I held his gaze, unwilling to back down.
“All right: Shatha.”
I knew for a fact I hadn’t mentioned Ibrahim’s wife’s name. I slowly nodded.
“Will you tell me what you know now?” he asked. This was a man who expected his orders to be followed immediately and without question.
I let his demand hang in the air between us for an elongated moment before I spoke. “On one condition?”
“Jo Marie,” he protested.
“Take it or leave it.”
His shoulders sagged. “What’s the condition?”
His intense look told me he didn’t appreciate my persistence. “I want to know what you know about Mark,” I said evenly. “I realize if the government or the military helped him it wasn’t out of the goodness of their hearts. He was asked to do something in return for bringing Ibrahim and his family to the States. I don’t need the details. I don’t even want to know his mission. All I care about is knowing if Mark is alive and if you can get