Free Hot Rebel by Lynn Raye Harris Page A

pistol. “I didn’t,” she said. “It seems as if Zaran bin Yusuf had something else in mind.”
    “Oh?”
    She’d faced Ian then, dropping the purse and lifting the gun. “He wants me dead.”
    Ian’s brows drew down. It took him a second to speak. “You think I knew.”
    “Did you?”
    He lifted both his hands and held them beside his head. “No. I was told you would be allowed to see your sister for an hour. That’s all.”
    She’d chewed her lip, her heart hurting over the fact she’d not seen Emily at all. “What’s the loss of another operator to you? We’re all replaceable, right?”
    Something flickered in his gaze. But then his eyes went flat. “Yes. But I don’t have another sniper of your caliber. You’re the best, Victoria.”
    The praise didn’t feel as nice as it should. She was tired and confused—and just a little bit heartsick at the idea this man could have betrayed her. She liked Ian. Or had, anyway.
    “I need a spotter. A good one.”
    “I’m working on it.”
    Her heart had pounded. “I found one.”
    One eyebrow arched. “Really? While thwarting an attempt on your life?”
    “Someone I went to sniper training with. He’s left the Army—not voluntarily, I take it—and he’s here in Qu’rim. And yeah, he was at the cafe where bin Yusuf’s men tried to grab me.”
    “Convenient.” He’d leaned back in his chair then, his hands folded on top of his head. Not provoking her. “If all they tried to do was grab you, how do you know bin Yusuf wants you dead?”
    “I didn’t get a warm fuzzy feeling from them. Why else would he try to grab me?”
    “To reunite you with your sister? To keep you in his camp for himself? How the fuck would I know?”
    She still didn’t lower the gun, though he sounded thoroughly baffled. “You’d know if he told you.”
    “I don’t take orders from bin Yusuf. I do what I want, for whom I want, so long as I get paid.”
    “If he paid you to kill me, would you?”
    His eyes flashed. “I might. But he’d have to pay me a whole fucking lot to replace you, and I don’t think that’s his priority right now.”
    “Geez, I’m beginning to think you care.”
    “Sweetheart, I care as much as I can. It’s all dollars and sense to me. And it makes no sense unless he’s got the dollars.”
    “So romantic. I feel positively safe now.”
    He’d snorted. “Shoot me if you have to, but otherwise put the fucking gun down and tell me about this spotter.”
    She’d stood there for a solid minute, debating. And then she’d lowered the gun and gone to sit in the chair in front of his desk, like always.  
    “You know, I should be insulted you’d think I’d set you up. Why the fuck would I send you to Akhira just to get you killed? I could do it myself—or let bin Yusuf grab you in the market down the street if he wanted to do it personally.”
    She hadn’t mentioned that bin Yusuf didn’t seem to want to do it himself since he’d instructed his men to shoot her on a remote stretch of beach.  
    “His name’s Nick Brandon. He was some kind of Special Forces or something, but he’s been involuntarily separated. He wouldn’t tell me why. But he says he’s looking for work. And I know he’s good. The best, besides me.”
    “You have a contact number?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then give it to me. No promises, but if he checks out, we’ll see.”
    And that had been the end of that. She’d given Ian Nick’s phone number and she’d gone to bed. She wasn’t worried about Nick’s story not agreeing with hers. They’d gone over it again and again with the colonel before she’d been allowed to leave.
    She couldn’t sleep as her mind churned with too many thoughts. She thought of her fear when she’d been standing under that bridge, and then she thought of the moment when the men around her dropped to the ground, their lives ended by a sniper’s bullet. She’d never been that close before. She was the one shooting from a safe distance, not