Read Dangerously Hot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#4) for Free Online Page B

ran from the room. Fatima sighed. “I’m sorry. I told her not to bother you about a puppy.”
    He shrugged. “She is a child. She does not understand delaying gratification.” He set the papers aside and picked up his phone when he heard the telltale buzz. There was a message from one of his lieutenants. It would be in code, of course. He opened it and began to read. Fatima knew better than to disturb him at such a time. She left the room in a cloud of silk and sweet perfume.
    Abdul Halim finished reading the message and picked up the paper again. Nothing much happening other than more foreign arrivals in the city today. The world media was coming more steadily now because of the unrest in the desert.
    Just wait until riots broke out in the city. They would be positively gleeful, the ghouls. Abdul Halim smiled to himself.  
    The doorbell rang and Fatima went to answer it. He heard the rustle of silk as she came back to the sitting room. His brother was behind her.  
    “Greetings, brother,” he said as Farouk came into the room and took a seat. Fatima left them and closed the door behind her.  
    Farouk accepted a cigarette. “What do you need me to do?”  
    “I need you to find the woman. She is dangerous to us now.”
    Farouk blew out a column of smoke. His eyes flashed. He knew who Abdul Halim meant. The only person to ever escape once the Freedom Force had taken her hostage.  
    “We should have gone after her sooner.”
    “We did not have the resources,” Abdul Halim snapped. “Once we were attacked, we had to scatter. It was impossible.”
    Farouk had been there in North Africa, and he knew what had happened. The Americans had rescued her. And they’d shot Abdul Halim and left him for dead.  
    Now that his secret was exposed, Lucinda Reid was dangerous. He remembered that she’d insisted she was called Lucky. He’d laughed at that, but little did he realize at the time just how lucky she was. She was not only lucky, she was also spirited.
    And she’d been defiant. So defiant. He did not like defiance, especially from a woman, and yet it had fascinated him too. His people had taken her from the street because he’d wanted to kill an American. He’d wanted to watch their government panic and posture, and he’d wanted to sow the seeds of fear in their tourists and in the local government. When Americans were scared, they reacted out of proportion to the threat. He liked how easily manipulated they were, and he’d thought to use it in his aims against the state.
    He should have killed her immediately, but she’d fascinated him. He hadn’t known she was military until they’d gone through her purse and found her identification. She’d been doing work for her government, interpreting for the military commanders that were propping up the state on orders from the American government. He’d taken her capture as a sign, and he’d been determined to break her utterly before he killed her.
    At first, he’d tormented her with words. And then he’d used his knife to mark her body. He had been so close to breaking her. To taking her for his own. He did not often mix sex and punishment, but there were times when it was necessary.
    It had been necessary with her. She was disobedient and she’d inflamed him with the desire to punish. He’d wanted to prove to her that she was nothing, that her military couldn’t save her. He’d been looking forward to it so much.
    But the Americans had busted in and taken her from him, and then he’d spent the last two years reestablishing his network. Abdul Halim viciously stubbed out his own cigarette. He’d wanted to deal with her sooner, but he was methodical and logical—and she’d presented no threat when he was thought to be dead.
    But everything had changed with ibn-Rashad’s betrayal. Lucky Reid was now a loose end, and though it galled him to let her off so easily when she really needed to pay for her sins, it was his only choice.
    “Find her, Farouk.