The Mercenary by Katherine Garbera Read Free Book Online Page B

started crying. He had dealt with men in the field before who’d lost it, but a woman…Why was she any different than men? He pinched the fleshy part of her upper arm.
    She slapped his hand away and glared at him.
    Thank God the tears had dried up.
    “Why did you do that?” she asked.
    “To make you stop crying.”
    “Oh. Thanks, I think.”
    He nodded.
    “I found a neighborhood where we can dump her stuff. I think it might be better if she’s not seen with us here,” Laz said.
    Kirk nodded. “Olivia, get down on the floor.”
    “Okay,” she said. She curled her long legs under herself on the floorboards. He noticed her shiver first and realized shock was setting in. He was reaching down to rub her neck when she made a gagging noise and then threw up on his shoes.
    “Sorry,” she muttered.
    “Laz, you got any water up there?”
    Laz passed a bottle back. Kirk met Laz’s eyes in the mirror and the other man lifted both eyebrows at him. He shrugged. In the course of his career he’d been bled on, vomited on, spit on—hell, there was hardly anything that hadn’t landed on him at one time or another.
    He poured some of the water on the napkin he took from his pocket and handed it to her. “Wipe your face.”
    She nodded and took it. Her hands were still shaking. “Do you think you are going to get sick again?”
    “Not now,” she said.
    She wiped her face and he noticed how pale she was and how scared she looked.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said again, tears falling from the corners of her eyes. “Don’t pinch me again.”
    “Then stop crying.”
    She blinked. “I’m trying. How do you do it?”
    “Not cry?” he asked. He hadn’t cried since Armand had died more than three years ago.
    “No,” she said, wiping her face delicately with the cloth he’d given her. “Not react to this kind of situation.”
    He shrugged. “It’s what I do.”
    “That’s not helpful.”
    “My job is to keep you alive, not give you advice.”
    “Are you good at your job?” she asked. He looked like he would excel at anything he put his mind to, but looks could be deceiving.
    “Very.”
    She nodded at him. “I’m glad.”
    “We’re here,” Laz said. He’d pulled the car into a parking lot in a rough neighborhood.
    “Sit tight,” Kirk said, getting out of the car. He made sure the area was secure, then turned back to the Mercedes.
    “Give me all of her stuff,” he said.
    “What?! What are you doing with it?”
    “We’re not sure that Lambert hasn’t bugged your bag and phone.”
    Olivia started to argue, but he just glared at her. She closed her mouth. Her stuff wasn’t going to keep her safe…only this man would.
    “I need my BlackBerry. It has everything in there. And I took some files from Ray’s desk.”
    “Get the files out. But you can’t keep the phone,” Kirk said.
    He shook his head. He tossed her bag and then opened the back of her phone and took out her SIM card. He tossed the phone on top of her bag in the trash can and got back into the car.
    “I…”
    “Be quiet. Laz needs to concentrate.”
    “Anna wants to talk to Olivia,” Savage said.
    “She doesn’t have a phone, so call mine.”
    “Will do,” Savage said.
    His cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID first and than handed it to Olivia.
    “Who is it?”
    “Anna.”
    She took it and held it to her chest as if it would offer her some kind of comfort. And he guessed that the comfort of having something normal in her hands was almost too much.
    “Where are we headed, Jack?”
    “The safe house in Pretoria. Laz has the directions. I might need you to go to the police department. You managed to avoid most of the surveillance cameras in the airport, but the ones in the hallway behind the restaurant recorded everything.”
    “Did you get a copy of it?” Kirk asked.
    “Yes. You’re covered. We need to debrief her.”
    “Will do.”
    “The rest of the team will be en route to Johannesburg shortly.”
    “Why? Laz and